Crude retreats from four-month high

24/03/2009

Headline crude oil futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange have fallen from a four-month high during electronic transactions this morning (March 24th).

After closing up yesterday at $53.80 (£36.70) a barrel, the commodity dropped 47 cents by 6:22 Eastern Time to trade at $53.33 a barrel.

Ahead of the publication of weekly demand data from the Energy Information Administration, Bloomberg polled a panel of experts and revealed a consensus that stockpiles were likely to have risen last week amid persistently weak demand.

Heating oil stocks may also have risen over the course of the week.

Thina Saltvedt, an oil analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo, told the news agency: "You have to get inventories down to a more normal level before you have a more stable, permanent increase in prices."

Until this happens, prices are likely to remain subdued, she said.