(1888PressRelease)
April 17, 2009 - Oil prices crept to near $50 a barrel Thursday in Asia as investors brushed off poor economic news from the U.S. and eyed a possible second-half recovery in crude demand.
Benchmark crude for May delivery rose 45 cents to $49.70 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Wednesday dropped 16 cents to settle at $49.25.
Oil prices have clung near $50 this month as traders parse recent economic data for signs global crude demand could recover soon.
Investors are brushing off the current dismal signals that demand remains weak, instead eyeing a possible rebound in the second half.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Wednesday it expects global demand to fall to 84.2 million barrels a day this year, or 1.6 percent less than last year.
OPEC's forecast follows a similar U.S. government forecast that said global oil demand will fall in 2009 to 84.1 million barrels a day.
"Demand hasn't come back yet, but the market is expecting it to turn around in the second half and grow next year," said Stephen Yang, an analyst with Seedorf Luxman & Partners in Singapore.
Yang went on to say “U.S. crude inventories continue to grow, suggesting American consumers and companies remain mired in a severe recession.”
The Seedorf Luxman & Partners analyst finished by saying “Crude oil inventories rose by 5.6 million barrels last week, more than twice what analysts expected. The total of 366.7 million barrels now in storage is the most held since Sept. 7, 1990.”
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