Oil drops $1 after Opec statement
Oil dropped over $1 to $122 after a statement from Opec said supply was
enought and a shipping source said Saudi Arabia planned to raise spot market
oil exports to the US this month.
Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badr said Opec believed the world had enough
crude supply at the moment but could pump more if needed to keep pace with
demand.
US crude for June was down $1.45 cents at $122.08 a barrel by 1552 GMT in
choppy trade, off a record of $123.93 reached late on Wednesday.
London Brent crude was down 84 cents at $121.48 a barrel.
Oil prices have risen by about $13 since late last week in a rally driven
partly by a report from Goldman Sachs predicting that oil prices could reach
$200 in the next two years.
"The Goldman Sachs report of $200 oil spooked the market a little but the
prompt reality is not showing any crisis in oil supply and demand," said
Olivier Jakob of analysts Petromatrix.
Jakob pointed to a rise in US crude and gasoline stocks last week as
evidence of sufficient supply.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has booked eight supertankers to carry 16
million barrels of crude to the US in May and early June, the highest number
of cargoes so far this year, a shipping source said.
The rise to the latest record high was driven by worries of tight world
diesel supply following a drop in distillate inventories in the US last week.
Tight power supplies in China, South Africa, Chile, Argentina and parts of
the Middle East have set off a worldwide boom in demand for diesel for use
in electric generators, adding to robust demand for use in Europe's
passenger vehicle fleet.
08 May 2008 16:49 GMT
| last updated:
08 May 2008 16:50 GMT
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