POST YOUR OIL NEWS, Clips here


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1200 point rise on the Hang Seng they must be euphoric!

US crude oil futures settled above $54 a barrel on Monday, to a five month high, on renewed optimism about an economic recovery.

Upbeat US housing and construction data fuelled hopes that the US economy is stabilising.

Meanwhile encouraging data from China also gave investors fresh hopes of a recovery. The US and China are the worlds two biggest oil consumers.

US light crude oil for June delivery settled up $1.27 at $54.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among precious metals gold broke the psychologically important $900 an ounce level, helped by the weaker dollar.

US crude oil futures settled lower on Tuesday, snapping its five session winning streak, as Wall St turned lower and traders await the EIAs weekly data on US stockpiles.

Supplies are expected to have risen again after touching almost a 20-year high last week.

Concern about weak demand also crept back in as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke gave a mixed outlook on the economy. While he expects economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year he also cautioned that the recovery would be slow, adding that unemployment is likely to rise further.

US light crude oil for June delivery fell 63 cents to settle at $53.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude touched $54.47 a barrel on Monday, its highest level this year so far as investors cheered better than expected economic data.

Among precious metals gold settled modestly higher amid a volatile session on Wall St as jitters set in ahead of the results of the US stress tests on Thursday.

Crude surged to over $56 a barrel, nearly a 6-month high, after a government report said crude stockpiles rose by 600,000 barrels in the week to 1 May, less than analyst forecasts.

Crude supplies were expected to rise by over 2m barrels. The Energy Information Administration said gasoline stockpiles rose by 600,000 barrels less than forecasts of a 750,000 increase.

Oil prices were also given a boost by a strong performance among US equities and after two encouraging job reports sparked hopes that the US economy is starting to stabilise.

US light crude oil for June delivery rose $2.50 to close the session at $56.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since 14 November 2008.

Oil prices have been hovering around the $50 a barrel mark for sometime now, down sharply from last summers high of almost $150, but amid optimism about an economic recovery and hopes of an increase in future oil demand, futures have gained around 10% in the last month.

Have just been told that Rotterdam is at maximum capacity for storage & now tankers at anchor are being used as temporary storage facitities, due to very high crude stockpiles. I am amazed that the crude price continues to hold so high given the glut at the moment.

American driving season about to start plus hurricane season coming ?

Possible new quota's to be set by OPEC later this month.
2517

It seems the price of oil is being rigged once again like it was when it shot up to $147 last year must be the saudis and the russians making the chinese pay!

Oil finished higher in New York Thursday, but way off its best levels as traders grew nervous about economic recovery prospects ahead of todays US jobs data.

A better than expected weekly jobless claims figure had helped the black gold surge as much as 4% at one stage, up to $58.57 a barrel. New jobless claims fell to 601,000, their lowest level since January and down from 631,000 the previous week.

US light crude for June delivery ended the session 37 cents better at $56.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, still up 6% on the week so far.

On the metal markets, gold rose for the fourth day in a row, topping $920 an ounce at one stage as the European Central Banks decision to cut rates to an all-time low of 1% raised inflation fears.

Its accepted that gold offers protection against inflation. Gold for June delivery added $4.50 to $915.50 an ounce in New York

THANKS STAN.

..Not at all XST -):

US crude oil rose above $58 a barrel on Friday as traders welcomed signs that the US job market is starting to stabilise and Thursdays stress tests showed banks to be in better shape than previously thought.

US light crude oil for June delivery climbed $1.92 to settle at $58.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest settlement since 11 November.

Non-farm payrolls data showed 539,000 jobs went last month versus forecasts for 600,000 and a revised 699,000 for March, government figures showed.

A rally on Wall Street also underpinned demand for oil, as did other upbeat reports during the week on the housing market, consumer sentiment and manufacturing activity. There are renewed hopes that oil demand will make a recovery amid signs of economic improvement.

Among precious metals gold turned lower Friday as demand for safe haven flows faded. COMEX gold for June delivery fell 60 cents to settle at $914.90 an ounce.

US crude oil futures retreated Monday as profit takers moved in after prices hit a six-month high on Friday.

US light crude oil for June delivery dropped 13 cents to settle at $58.50 a barrel at the start of the week on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil prices also mirrored a decline on Wall Street as profit takers also took a chunk out of the financial sector following the recent rally.

On Friday oil prices settled at $58.63 a barrel, its highest settlement since November 2008 on optimism about economic recovery in the US following upbeat data.

However with economic news thin on the ground Monday, traders had little to feed this new optimism.

Oil rapidly approaching $60 today.

Confidence that the global economy is stabilising took the price of a barrel of crude oil above $60 on Tuesday.

US light crude oil for June delivery rose 35 cents to settle at $58.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising to $60.08 a barrel before the market opened in electronic trading.

A report showing China's crude imports for April surged 13% from the same time a year ago gave oil prices a boost while the weaker dollar also increased its appeal.

Oil prices retreated from the $60 mark as nagging concern about the short-term energy outlook returned and as traders looked ahead to the Energy Information Administration weekly supplies report.

Gold futures advanced Tuesday, amid a broad commodities rally, helped by a weaker greenback.

US crude oil retreated Wednesday, despite a surprise decline in weekly crude inventories, after a gloomy retail sales report and as US equities settled sharply lower.

US light crude oil for June delivery fell 83 cents to settle at $58.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the session oil rose over 1% but by mid afternoon prices headed lower.

The Energy Information Administrations report showed US supplies of crude fell by 4.7m barrels in the week ended 8 May after imports fell. Analysts had pencilled in a rise of 1.4m barrels.

Gasoline stocks fell 4.1m barrels despite an expected increase of 400,000 barrels. Distillates, used to make diesel and heating oil, rose 1m barrels during the week.

In its monthly report earlier this week, EIA said it expects world oil demand to fall by 1.8m barrels per day in 2009. That's a 400,000 barrel cut from its predictions last month.

Brighter stock markets and a slightly weaker dollar were enough to drag oil higher Thursday.

The June contract jumped 60 cents to $58.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, having been as low as $56.55 earlier in the session.

Traders overcame weak US jobs data and a downgrade to oil demand forecasts from the International Energy Agency, but not before theyd knocked crude down 2.5%.

The IEA thinks demand will slip by 2.6 million barrels a day from last years levels, about 200,000 barrels more than it predicted a month ago.

"Continued oil demand weakness is premised on strong economic recovery later this year remaining elusive," said the IEA in its monthly report.

Crude oil futures ended sharply lower on Friday on concern that the economic recovery will not be as quick as recently hoped and demand for oil will remain weak.

Crude for June delivery fell $2.28 to $56.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Jitters about weak demand resumed late in the week after the International Energy Agency predicted that global oil demand will endure its largest drop this year since 1981.

Weaker than expected economic data also chipped away at investor confidence while oil cartel OPECs downward revision of its forecast for global energy demand this year also dealt oil prices a blow.

The International Energy Agency was the third energy forecaster to cut its forecast for oil demand.

US crude futures rallied 4.8% on Monday as US equities moved higher and after explosions at a major Nigerian and US refinery.

US light crude oil for June delivery rose $2.69 to settle at $59.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract expires at the end of Tuesdays session.

Stock markets across Asia, Europe and the US were mostly higher with Wall Street receiving a particular boost from a report by the National Association of Home Builders showing improved sentiment among US house builders in May.

House builder Lowe's also cheered after it reported a smaller than expected decline in first quarter profit and issued upbeat comments about future capital markets and a better mortgage refinancing environment.

Reports of explosions at two oil and gas pipelines in Nigeria fuelled concern about disruptions to supplies from Africas biggest crude exporter.

US crude futures touched $60 a barrel on Tuesday ahead of weekly inventory data which is expected to show a fall in crude supplies.

US light crude oil for June delivery settled at $59.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 62 cents. The June contract had risen to a high of $60.48 in pre-market trading. The July contract, up 47 cents at $60.06, becomes active on Wednesday.

While prices pushed higher, gains were limited after a disappointing report on the US housing sector and as Wall Street settled in the red. New construction of US homes fell to a new record low in April, according to figures by the Commerce Department.

Otherwise traders were looking ahead to the Energy Information Administrations weekly report which last week showed a decline in US crude inventories as imports fell.

Previously crude oil supplies were running at the highest level in nearly 20 years.

US crude oil futures continued to march forward, rising above $62 on Wednesday to a six-month high, after a government report said US crude supplies fell more than expected last week.

Crude for July delivery rose $1.94, on its first day of active trading, to settle at $62.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement 10 November.

The Energy Information Administration said crude inventories fell 2.1m barrels in the week ended 15 May 15, greater than expectations of a 1.5m decline.

Crude prices are now almost double levels seen in February when prices slumped to $34 a barrel. Optimism about economic recovery and strengthening equity markets has boosted demand for oil.

Gasoline stockpiles decreased by 4.3m barrels last week, despite expectations of a 1.7m barrel decline.