Oil prices ease due to expectation of global crisis
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oil prices eased from recent highs in Asian trade on Monday after international finance ministers warned that near-term global economic prospects have weakened. Prices had rocketed to a record 112.21 dollars during intra-day trade on Wednesday.
In afternoon trade, New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude due for delivery in May, fell 29 cents to $109.85 per barrel.
The contract closed at $110.14 during floor trading on Friday at the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had rocketed to a record $112.21 during intra-day trade on Wednesday.
"Prices are going down from the given perception that the U.S. is in recession," said David Johnson, an oil analyst at Macquarie Research in Hong Kong.
Victor Shum, senior principal at Purvin and Gertz energy consultancy in Singapore, said prices were also under the influence of movement in the U.S. dollar.Â
The latest economic warning came Friday from finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 major industrialised countries.
The world economy "continues to face a difficult period... (and) near-term economic prospects have weakened," the G7 officials said in a statement after their meeting in Washington.
"The turmoil in global financial markets remains challenging and more protracted than we had anticipated," the G7 said before weekend meetings of the board of governors of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
A slowing United States, the world's biggest economy, could hit demand for energy products. The U.S. is the worlds thirstiest oil consumer.
Photo: AFP