Crude edges towards $52

30/04/2009

Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were edging towards $52 (£34.82) a barrel this morning (April 30th).

The gains continue upward movements made yesterday, when the commodity closed above $50 a barrel as investors took stock of the latest demand data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In its report for last week, the government department showed that stocks of gasoline fell, indicating that demand for petroleum derivatives is beginning to pick up.

However, crude oil, propane and heating oil stockpiles rose again over the course of the week, the EIA confirmed.

Ben Westmore, commodities analyst at National Australia Bank, told Reuters that prices in commodities such as crude and heating oil are likely to hold steady as investors try to "interpret the signals from the economic data and whether we're at the trough in the economic cycle".