Oil prices slide in Asian trade after Easter weekend

SINGAPORE: Oil prices eased in Asian trade on Monday as traders took profits from last week's strong finish before the start of the Easter holiday weekend, analysts said.

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for May delivery, shed 46 cents to 51.78 dollars a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May fell 11 cents to 53.95 dollars. The contract for May delivery will expire Wednesday.

Oil and stock markets were closed Friday for the Easter weekend holiday.

"After a strong finish, we now see a bit of profit-taking. After all, it remains uncertain whether we have reached a bottom on the fundamentals of oil," said Victor Shum, senior principal of energy consultants Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.

Crude oil prices were boosted Thursday by a strong Wall Street rally ahead of the Easter holidays due to US banking giant Wells Fargo's projection of a "record" three-billion-dollar profit in the first quarter, which sent shares of major banks soaring.

The rally might carry forward to this week, when earnings reports of other banks are due to be released, added Shum. "If the (earnings reports) are like Wells Fargo's, that will continue to provide some positive news for the oil market," he said.

Oil prices have nosedived after hitting a peak of 147 dollars in July last year due to the global financial crisis which is seen as dampening demand for energy.

Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said the country favored a global oil price of "75 to 80 dollars" a barrel, the state television website reported Sunday.

"From the point of view of the Islamic republic, the favourable oil price is 75 dollars to 80 dollars," the minister was quoted as saying.

Iran is the second largest crude producing member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which pumps 40 percent of the world's oil.