London (Platts)--7Dec2007
Global crude futures were stable to slightly lower in European morning
trading on Friday, holding on to gains seen Thursday that resulted from the
latest fundamental developments, a weakening US dollar and buying-back
tendencies, as crude futures appeared oversold lately, sources said.
Front-month ICE Brent as well as NYMEX WTI futures settled at their
highest values in over a week Thursday. The WTI contract caught up to and
closed the gap with Brent due to a flat price correction on the back of the
latest US weekly stock data, analysts said.
At 11:14 GMT, January ICE Brent futures were down 26 cents to
$89.92/barrel, while January NYMEX WTI lost 35 cents to $89.88/b. Brent's
premium over WTI diminished, now at only 4 cents/b.
In the Middle East, the January DME Oman contract was higher, gaining 31
cents to $85.65/b, while the January ICE Dubai contract has not changed hands
yet at the time of writing.
"Crude futures remain a good buying opportunity," a London-based broker
said. Other analysts made similar remarks.
"The market posted a strong recovery after recording five-week lows in
the overnight session. The weakening in the US dollar, and an OECD report
raising economic growth forecasts for China, were mentioned as drivers behind
[Thursday's] price strength. However, we feel that the larger initiative was
simply provided by the fact that the complex had become oversold on a
short-term basis," and as players bought back positions, prices strengthened,
independent energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch said in a report Thursday
evening.
Looking at product futures, December ICE gasoil increased $7 to
$794.50/mt, tracking late-Thursday gains in crude futures.
In the US, January NYMEX heating oil and RBOB were mixed, with the former
down 0.84 cents to $2.5366/gallon, while RBOB gained 0.17 cents to
$2.303/gallon.
--Verena Peternell, verena_peternell@platts.com
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