Crude oil prices fall from year high levels

21/10/2009

US crude oil traded at below $79 a barrel on Wednesday (October 21st), extending on the losses of the previous session and moving further away from the highest levels seen in a year.

December delivery for the commodity fell to $78.82 per barrel, a fall of 30 cents, by 01:11 EDT, reports Reuters.

The price decrease came about following the American Petroleum Institute's (API) report of a 3.8 million barrel increase rather than the 1.8 million increase that had been anticipated.

David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney, said: "There is plenty of oil around at the moment and the current price is associated with tight supply, so I am a little bearish and I suspect it will adjust lower."

He added that the API data showed a large stock build and if it is confirmed by the Energy Information Administration, the market could fall in the very short term.

Earlier in the week David Moore predicted that oil prices could fall below the $70 mark again in the near future.