Oil prices drop from record heights
Oil crude futures slumped further on Tuesday from record highs of almost 140 dollars a barrel, reached a day earlier as the market reacted negatively to a possible output increase by Saudi Arabia.
By PTI |
LONDON: Oil crude futures slumped further on Tuesday from record highs of almost 140 dollars a barrel, reached a day earlier as the market reacted negatively to a possible output increase by Saudi Arabia.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, slid 1.76 dollars to 132.85 dollars per barrel in afternoon European trading.
It had struck a record high point of 139.89 dollars on Monday despite news that Saudi Arabia was ready to raise output to help cool high energy costs threatening economic growth.
"The worsening energy crisis may have reached a critical threshold," Bob Doll, a director at investment manager Blackrock, was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.
"And prices have risen enough to cause a deterioration in the overall global economic growth outlook." Brent North Sea crude for August delivery dived 2.15 dollars to 132.56 dollars a barrel on Tuesday, a day after striking a life-time high of 139.32 dollars.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday blamed soaring crude futures on the sliding dollar, which makes commodities priced in the US unit cheaper for foreign buyers.
"The rise in consumption is lower than the rise in production," Ahmadinejad told a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC's) fund for international development.
"The market is well supplied but prices are rising and this situation is artificial and imposed" by world powers, he added.
Ahmadinejad's comments came ahead of a meeting on Sunday organised by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, to bring together major oil producers and consumers to discuss surging crude prices.
UN Secretary General Ban has said Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi plans to raise his kingdom's production by 200,000 barrels a day in July on top of an increase of 300,000 barrels made in June, while an announcement could come in Jeddah on Sunday.
Global finance officials fear runaway oil prices pose a threat to world economic growth as higher inflation leads central banks to raise interest rates.
OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of oil supplies and has been widely blamed for the five-fold rise in prices since 2003, insists the oil market is well supplied.
New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, slid 1.76 dollars to 132.85 dollars per barrel in afternoon European trading.
It had struck a record high point of 139.89 dollars on Monday despite news that Saudi Arabia was ready to raise output to help cool high energy costs threatening economic growth.
"The worsening energy crisis may have reached a critical threshold," Bob Doll, a director at investment manager Blackrock, was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.
"And prices have risen enough to cause a deterioration in the overall global economic growth outlook." Brent North Sea crude for August delivery dived 2.15 dollars to 132.56 dollars a barrel on Tuesday, a day after striking a life-time high of 139.32 dollars.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday blamed soaring crude futures on the sliding dollar, which makes commodities priced in the US unit cheaper for foreign buyers.
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"The rise in consumption is lower than the rise in production," Ahmadinejad told a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC's) fund for international development.
"The market is well supplied but prices are rising and this situation is artificial and imposed" by world powers, he added.
Ahmadinejad's comments came ahead of a meeting on Sunday organised by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, to bring together major oil producers and consumers to discuss surging crude prices.
UN Secretary General Ban has said Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi plans to raise his kingdom's production by 200,000 barrels a day in July on top of an increase of 300,000 barrels made in June, while an announcement could come in Jeddah on Sunday.
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Global finance officials fear runaway oil prices pose a threat to world economic growth as higher inflation leads central banks to raise interest rates.
OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of oil supplies and has been widely blamed for the five-fold rise in prices since 2003, insists the oil market is well supplied.
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