Crude falls $1/bbl on continued economic worries

14 November 2008 11:33  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Crude fell more than $1/bbl on Friday, cancelling out earlier gains as attention shifted away from the rebound in shares back to worries over the global economic crisis and signs of slowing demand.

At 10:30 GMT on Friday, December NYMEX light sweet crude futures were trading at $57.75/bbl, down 49 cents/bbl on Thursday’s settlement level, after falling $1.13/bbl to a low of $57.11/bbl.

At the same time, January Brent on London’s ICE futures was trading at $55.53/bbl, down 71 cents/bbl on Thursday’s settlement price, after earlier falling $1.41/bbl to a low of $54.83/bbl.

The December ICE Brent contract expired at the close of business on Thursday.

In Asia, there were further signs of a downturn as it emerged that Hong Kong slipped into recession in the third quarter.

Nippon Oil, Japan’s biggest refiner, shut down a 100,000 bbl/day crude distillation unit at its Mizushima refinery on Friday for one month due to weak domestic demand, a source close to the company said.

($1 = €0.80)

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: James Dennis
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(ICIS Chemical Business podcast November 2, 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly