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Oil prices change little, remain high

06 May 2009 07:33 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil was little changed as concerns Federal Reserve stress tests on U.S. banks may show some companies need additional capital, extending the global recession and limiting fuel demand, Bloomberg reported.

A U.S. Energy Department report today may show that crude- oil inventories increased 2.5 million barrels last week as refiners produced less fuels on weaker demand for gasoline and diesel, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Oil fell yesterday as U.S. equity markets dropped for the first time in three days.

Crude oil for June delivery was at $53.85 a barrel, after rising as much as 0.8 percent to $54.25. Yesterday, the contract dropped 63 cents to settle at $53.84 a barrel. Oil is up 21 percent this year.

OPEC oil output averaged 27.58 million barrels a day last month, down 75,000 from March, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Saudi Arabia, the worldâ€™s biggest exporter, cut production by 25,000 barrels a day to 7.925 million in April, the survey showed. That was 126,000 barrels a day less than the kingdomâ€™s target.

Brent crude oil for June settlement was unchanged at $54.12 a barrel on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures exchange. The contract declined 46 cents, or 0.8 percent, to end the session at $54.12 a barrel yesterday.