World Oil Prices Ease Off Record Highs

Author: 
Agence France Presse
Publication Date: 
Sat, 2004-10-16 03:00

LONDON, 16 October 2004 — World oil prices eased slightly yesterday but remained close to record high points near $55 a barrel as traders fretted about low inventories of US heating fuel heading into the northern winter.

The price of reference light sweet crude for delivery in November fell 16 cents to $54.60 a barrel in early trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

New York’s main oil contract soared to an all-time intra-day high of $54.88 a barrel Thursday, closing at a record $54.76.

In London, Brent North Sea crude oil for December delivery lost 24 cents to $49.85 in late deals yesterday. The contract for November, which expired Thursday, hit a record $51.50 a barrel earlier in the week.

Suspension of a general strike in major crude producer Nigeria helped to cool prices a little, traders said.

“The Nigerian strike has been suspended but we are looking for prices to stay strong,” GNI-Man Financial trader Lee Elliott said.

“It should be a relief as people were a little bit worried about the strike, but you never know how quickly things could change over there.” Nigeria’s unions suspended their four-day general strike on Thursday and gave President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government two weeks to find a way to cut rising fuel prices. International markets had been watching the strike closely, concerned that if Nigeria’s daily exports of around 2.5 million barrels per day were disrupted oil prices could rocket. Although exports were unaffected, oil workers’ leaders warned that they were holding the threat of a halt to exports as an option in case of harassment by the authorities. New York’s oil price had raced to a record high Thursday as news of a decline in US heating oil inventories rattled traders with colder weather approaching.

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