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By Staff
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SINGAPORE, July 10 (Reuters) Brent crude oil eased on Tuesday after a seven-day rally lifted prices to their highest in 11 months, but losses were limited by fears of further violence in No. 8 exporter Nigeria and looming North Sea maintenance.

London Brent crude currently seen as a better indicator of the global market, fell 31 cents to $75.47 a barrel by 0207 GMT, reversing Monday's 16-cent gains but still within sight of the contract's all-time high of $78.65 struck Aug. 8.

U.S. crude inched down 7 cents to $72.12 a barrel after falling 62 cents a day ago, as traders fretted that fresh refinery troubles would keep U.S. crude oil stocks flush.

Oil prices have risen at the start of the third quarter in tandem with broader commodities, helping lift the 19-contract Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index to its highest this year.

In Nigeria, four more people have been abducted, underscoring insecurity in Nigeria's oil-producing region hours after a 3-year-old British girl was freed by her kidnappers.

''It creates a lot of concerns in the oil trading community, because it shows that the (Nigerian) government cannot control the situation,'' said Tony Nunan of Japan's Mitsubishi Corp.

''The situation in Nigeria hasn't got better.'' Oil production in Nigeria, the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter, is already down by more than 20 percent because of militant attacks on oil facilities.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said one of its teams had been attacked in Rivers state in the delta on Saturday and two Nigerian workers had been taken hostage.

Nunan also said the maintenance in key North Sea oil fields that make up the basis for the Brent futures contract would provide support to the Brent contract, which on Monday widened its premium to U.S. crude by nearly 60 cents to $3.30 a barrel.

Although the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday predicted tighter markets over the next five years thanks to faster-than-expected demand growth, U.S. crude oil inventories are expected for the moment to remain near nine-year highs.

Stocks were expected to have eased by only 100,000 barrels last week, according to a preliminary Reuters poll. Gasoline stocks were seen rising by 700,000 barrels and distillates by 800,000 barrels thanks to a further recovery in refinery use.

Reflecting the bullish trend, speculators in the New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil market boosted net long positions to a record high in the week ended July 3 in a bet prices would rise, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said.

Reuters AGL GC1000

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