News

March 05, 2010

The Oil Price Continues Its Healthy Run Staying Above US$80 A Barrel For Two Weeks

By Eithne Treanor

The oil price is maintaining a healthy run, managing to stay around US$80 for the past 2 weeks. Oil producers will be hoping this trend will continue as they prepare for OPEC’s first meeting of 2010. In early trading on Friday, the oil price was close to US$81.

The midweek inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a bigger than expected build in crude inventories with a small build in gasoline but a slight fall in distillate stocks. “Crude oil inputs into refineries were broadly unchanged as utilisation rates remained above 80 per cent for a second week,” said John Hall, senior analyst at Energy Quote.  He added, “crude oil imports continued to rise, reaching over 9 million barrels a day and demand is slightly...