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| Wednesday, 13 October 2004 |
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Oil prices remain near $ 54 in Asian trade SINGAPORE, Tuesday (AFP) Oil prices remained near 54 dollars a barrel in Asian trade Tuesday, supported by fresh concerns over the possible impact of a general strike in Africa's biggest oil producer Nigeria, dealers said. An industrial dispute in Norway, the world's third largest exporter of crude, as well as continued concerns over rising demand during the northern hemisphere winter further stoked market jitters. At 11:35 am (0335 GMT), light sweet crude for November delivery was trading at 53.63 US dollars a barrel, just short of its 53.64 dollars record close on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. It hit an intra-day high of 53.67 dollars in Asian trading hours, short of the new all-time high of 53.80 dollars in New York on Monday."A lot of people in the market are talking about 60 dollars now. It is certainly not at all out of the question. In terms of round numbers, 55 dollars will be the next target," Refco market analyst Marshall Steeves said in New York. Problems with hurricane damage to oil production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and the strikes in Nigeria and Norway are likely to accentuate concern over US petroleum inventory data, to be released Wednesday. Nigerian union leaders on Monday vowed to push on with their four-day general strike to protest rising fuel prices after side-stepping an attempt by President Olusegun Obasanjo's government to appease them with talks. |
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