Bourse

Bourse

Oil prices change a bit down

27 July 2009 07:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil traded little changed, heading for its second weekly gain, as advancing equity markets restored faith in the prospect of an economic recovery.

Crude oil for September delivery traded for $67.01 a barrel, 15 cents lower in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 1:07 p.m. London time.

Oil has increasingly moved in tandem with benchmark stock indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and U.S. crude futures showed a correlation of 0.7 the past month, up from 0.06 in December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A correlation of 1 means the two moved in lockstep.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will trim crude shipments by 1.7 percent in the four weeks ending Aug. 8, according to consultant Oil Movements, as refinery maintenance and faltering demand encourage members to implement supply cuts.

OPEC, a 12-member group that pumps 40 percent of the worldâ€™s oil, will reduce seaborne exports in the four-week period to 22.39 million barrels a day from 22.78 million a day in the month ended July 11, the tanker-tracker said today. Itâ€™s the sixth consecutive drop reported in Oil Movementsâ€™ weekly reports.

Brent crude for September settlement on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures Europe exchange traded 21 cents lower at $69.04 a barrel at 1:08 p.m. London time.