IEA Forecasts that World Oil Demand Will Fall by 2.4 Million B/D, or 2.8%, to 83.4 Million B/D in 2009

摘要

PRICES Price of Light Sweet Crude Nudging $62/B In the week beginning 18 May, the prices of the light reference crudes on the two main futures markets, the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and ICE Futures in London, continued the ascent they had begun a few weeks earlier. On the Nymex on 20 May, the price of light sweet crude even topped the $62/barrel mark, touching a high of $62.14/b during the day before losing ground towards the end of trading and on the following day as a result of profit- taking. One has to go back to November 2008 to find such a high price. The upward trend resumed on Friday, 22 May, when the price for July contracts gained a further $0.62/b to close at$61.67/b. On ICE Futures, Brent rose by a greater margin, gaining $0.85/b to end the week at $60.78/b, also for July contracts. As for the OPEC crude basket, it is now close to $59/b (see table opposite).