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Oil leaps by $1 a barrel
13.08.09
Oil prices jumped by more than dollar a barrel today as the International Energy Authority bumped up its forecast of worldwide demand.
Brent crude rose $1.10 to $73.99 a barrel while New York crude rose $1.36 to $71.52, with signs of the recession ending in Europe helping to boost optimism.
The Paris-based IEA said that it had raised its its global oil consumption forecast for this year and next but still expects consumption to be down by 2.7% in the current year.
“We're forecasting an upswing in global oil demand from the second quarter into the fourth quarter,” Barclays Capital said in a report. “The grounds are being laid for a sustained push to the upside.”
Barclays expects oil to average $71 a barrel in the third quarter and $76 in the fourth. Sentiment was also boosted as the US National Hurricane Center said the Atlantic could get its first named storm of the year — with a tropical depression strengthening on a track toward the US Virgin Islands.
But on the counter side Steven Schork, the renowed trader and analyst, pointed out that the US now has the largest stockpile of crude oil since Saddam Hussein invaded neighbouring Kuwait in 1991.
Reader views (1)
I am waiting for the punch-line to this sick joke. One place IEA says demand is down then another place it is up. Then when oil goes up they say the economy is recovering and the recession is at its end then oil goes back down and they say the economy is still not ready. I wish the CFTC would quit voting (and counting lobbiest money) and make a decision. GS, Chase, MS...the all print what they want about the markets because they can pay the most. I bet if you check there stocks they go long right before it goes up and then short right before it goes down. Crystal ball my keester. You don't need one when you manipulate the markets. Sick...sick...joke.
- Bsw, New Concord, Ohio
