abou oil

Oil prices rose
again Thursday
on data
suggesting the
US crude glut is
easing as the
dollar weakened
against the euro.
US benchmark
West Texas
Intermediate for
June delivery
rose $1.05 to
$59.63 a barrel
on the New York
Mercantile
Exchange.
European
benchmark Brent
oil for June
delivery gained
94 cents to
$66.78 a barrel in
London.
Analysts said
the oil market
continued to
react to
Wednesday’s US
Department of
Energy inventory
report, which
showed a
500,000 barrel
drop in
petroleum
stocks to 61.7
million barrels at
the key Cushing,
Oklahoma
trading hub.
While the decline
was modest, it
marked the first
drop since late
November.
Traders are
taking the
decline as a sign
producers are
cutting back at
key US
petroleum sites,
such as the
Bakken region in
North Dakota,
analysts said.
“The oil price
‘wants’ to rise –
this is the
impression one is
bound to gain if
one looks at the
events that
have taken place
on the oil market
in recent
weeks,”
Commerzbank
said.
“Certainly
market
participants are
paying more
attention and
responding more
to the ‘positive’
rather than to
the ‘negative’
reports.”
Oil prices were
given an
additional
upward push by
the retreat in
the dollar against
the euro and
some other
currencies
following
Wednesday’s US
economic report
showing growth
of just 0.2
percent in the
first quarter.
A Fed statement
Wednesday left
open the timing
of an increase as
it waits for more
signs of
economic
progress.
A weak dollar
encourages
consumption of
crude and other
dollar-
denominated
commodities
outside the US.