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Oil prices change a little

12 March 2009 07:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil rose for the first day in three as traders closed out bets that prices would fall amid speculation OPEC may cut output for a fourth time, Bloomberg reported.
Investors purchased contracts to profit from so-called short sales after crude dropped 7.4 percent yesterday as U.S. inventories showed a bigger-than-expected gain. Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil said yesterday OPEC is likely to reduce output again at this weekendâ€™s meeting. Other ministers have called for the group to halt reductions.
Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as 83 cents, or 2 percent, to $43.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $43.09 a barrel at 1:11 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, April futures fell $3.38 to settle at $42.33 a barrel, the lowest since March 3. Prices are down 3.3 percent this year.
U.S. supplies increased 749,000 barrels to 351.3 million barrels last week, the Energy Department said yesterday. Stockpiles were forecast to rise by 250,000 barrels, according to the median of analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Refineries ran at 82.7 percent of capacity, down from 85 percent a year earlier, as demand slipped.
Brent crude oil for April settlement rose as much as 90 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $42.30 a barrel on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $42.22 a barrel at 1:06 p.m. Singapore time. The contract yesterday declined $2.56, or 5.8 percent, to end the session at $41.40 a barrel.
OPEC has reduced daily production targets by 4.2 million barrels since September. Ministers will meet in Vienna on March 15 to discuss whether to make further cuts.
The 11 OPEC members with quotas, all except Iraq, produced 25.39 million barrels a day in February, down from 29.22 million barrels a day in September, according to a Bloomberg News survey of oil companies, producers and analysts. The group agreed to pump 24.845 million barrels a day starting Jan. 1.