LONDON: Global oil prices soared to three-week peaks yetserday, reversing earlier losses as traders focused once more on supply worries linked to simmering tensions in the Middle East.
In afternoon London trade, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November raced as high as $ 115.59 per barrel. It later stood at $ 114.79, up 29 cents from Tuesday’s closing level.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) or light sweet crude for November, jumped as high as $93.66 before pulling back to $92.59, down 19 cents.
Oil had already rallied by about $ 3 on Tuesday, with Brent oil striking a three-week high point on heightened concerns that the Syrian conflict could spread to Turkey.
“Crude oil is again firmer,” GFT Markets analyst Fawad Razaqzada told AFP. “Both Brent and WTI ...look set to push further higher .”
“At the moment, supply worries are certainly outweighing demand concerns,” added Razaqzada.
OPEC trimmed its forecast for world oil demand growth in 2013 due to a slowing global economy and said it expected supply to remain ample, reinforcing its message that producers are doing enough to tackle high prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a monthly report, trimmed its forecast for growth in world oil demand in 2013 by 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 780,000 bpd and said the risk remained skewed to the downside.
Oil price rebounds to 3-week highs
