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Oil prices remain near $40

23 February 2009 07:39 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil traded near $40 a barrel in New York as traders weighed the risk of a deepening global recession against government measures to revive economic growth.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may make another production cut should oil prices continue to fall, Chakib Khelil, the Algerian oil minister and former OPEC president, said yesterday. The dollar fell on speculation the U.S. government will take larger stakes in the nationâ€™s banks.
Crude oil for April delivery was at $40.26 a barrel, up 23 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:05 p.m. Singapore time. It earlier fell as much as 50 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $39.53 a barrel.
The government may increase its stake and end up holding as much as 40 percent of Citigroup Inc.â€™s common stock, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Oil was supported as the dollar fell to a one-week low against the euro. The decline in the U.S. currency draws investors to commodities as an inflation hedge.
On Feb. 20, the April crude oil contract declined 15 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $40.03. The March future expired that day at $38.94 a barrel. Oil lost as much as 6.6 percent on Feb. 20 as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below its lowest close since 1997.
Brent crude oil for April settlement was at $42.01 a barrel, up 12 cents, on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures Europe exchange at 12 p.m. Singapore time. It earlier declined as much as 39 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $41.50 a barrel