Oil vaults above $70 on speculative buying
03 Aug 2009
Crude oil prices rose above $70 a barrel in Asian trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange today on the back of investor speculation.
US sweet, light crude for September was up 73 cents at $70.18 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had gained $2.51 on Friday, when it settled at $69.45 a barrel.
August Gasoline on the NYMEX rose 1.24 cents to $2.03 a gallon and heating oil gained 1.11 cents at $1.84. August natural gas fell 1.6 cents to $3.64 per 1,000 cubic feet.
North Sea Brent on the London ICE Futures Exchange rose 58 cents to $72.28 a barrel.
Crude prices also gained strength from rising stock prices around the world, despite poor consumer sentiment in the US.
Analysts expect crude oil prices to rise above $73 a barrel soon, but they don't expect the price level to be sustainable.
Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), on the other hand, expect crude oil prices to reach $80 a barrel by January.
