Oil prices fall but supply worries limit losses in Asia - Singapore's Online Community

**qing02051981** · 08-10-2007, 04:37 PM

SINGAPORE, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - World oil prices fell in Asian trade on Monday but worries over tight energy supplies limited the drop, dealers said.

In afternoon trade, New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, was 46 cents lower at 80.76 dollars per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for November delivery was at 78.47 dollars per barrel, down 43 cents.

"Generally there is a lack of bullish news driving the market, so there is some softening of oil pricing," said Victor Shum, of energy consultants Purvin and Gertz in Singapore.

"However, the crude oil supply and demand fundamentals remain quite firm in the near term," Shum added. He said he expects strong support at the high 70-dollar level.

He noted that, heading toward the Northern hemisphere winter season, heating oil inventories remain below the five-year average for this time of year.

The US Department of Energy's (DoE) weekly report released Wednesday showed stockpiles of distillates, including heating fuel, unexpectedly dropped by 1.2 million barrels to 135.9 million barrels during the week ended September 28.

Industry analysts had forecast a rise of 1.3 million barrels.

Crude oil stocks rose by 1.2 million barrels, the DoE report showed. Most analysts had expected oil reserves to fall.

New York oil prices burst through the 80-dollar level last month and went on to hit an all-time peak of 84.10 dollars, while Brent oil hit a record high of 81.05 dollars per barrel in late September.

Global oil prices have more than doubled from around 30 dollars in 2003, and analysts say the forces pushing up prices show no signs of easing, with 100-dollar-per-barrel oil possible in 2008.