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Oil prices rise in world markets

10 February 2010 08:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Crude futures rose slightly Monday, as the flight out of commodities and equities that knocked oil prices down 7.5% in the last two trading days looks to have subsided, Wall Street Journal reports.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery recently traded 22 cents, or 0.3%, higher at $71.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 19 cents, or 0.3%, higher at $69.78 a barrel.

Monday’s meager gains extended crude’s rebound Friday afternoon after briefly falling below $70 a barrel, widely seen as the lower end of a trading range that has bracketed prices since October. Prices remain nearly $6 below the Feb. 2 settlement of $77.23 a barrel.

However, bargain hunters have stepped in to buy oil whenever prices have dipped below $70 a barrel in the last few months, including on Friday. Although Europe’s sovereign debt issues raise questions about the health of the developed economies, rapidly increasing oil demand in emerging markets has helped to gradually reduce global supplies. U.S. oil and fuel inventories are at their lowest since March.

Even as oil prices were spiraling lower last week, the gap between monthly futures contracts was narrowing, normally a sign that traders believe supplies are tightening. March crude trades at a 34-cent discount to April, from as much as $2.50 in December.

Many analysts also see Saudi Arabia and other large producers cutting back on exports if prices fall below $70 a barrel, which would further reduce inventories.