Global oil prices eased Tuesday as dealers booked profits from three straight days of gains amid expectations of another rise in US crude supplies in this week’s inventory report.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for June, closed at $95.62 a barrel, down 54 cents from Monday.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June, dived $1.06 to settle at $104.40 a barrel.
The New York session was “relatively quiet” and marked by “a combination of profit-taking and expectations of the inventory report,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital.
Kilduff said that the US Department of Energy’s weekly petroleum supplies report, an indicator of demand in the world’s largest energy consumer, was expected to show another increase in crude supplies which last week hit the highest level since 1982, when the weekly report began.
The DoE is expected to report an increase of 1.4 million barrels in the week ended May 31, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Oil prices over the prior three sessions jumped by more than $5 in New York and $6.50 in London, supported by rising tensions between Israel and Syria over Israeli air raids.
A senior Israeli official said the raids targeted Iranian weapons destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Bob Yawger of Mizuho Securities said that “some risk premium built into the market as a result” of the Israel-Syria situation.
Source: AFP
