WTI oil price trading at $108, sets a new 28 month high

5 April 2011 5 April 2011

BonTrade

US WTI oil futures open today’s trading session at $108 a barrel, a new 28 month high as investors drive oil prices skyward, betting that unrest in the Middle East and Africa will push crude oil futures higher in the coming months.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for May 2011 delivery was trading at $108.03 a barrel, 06.00 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX. WTI oil closed off yesterday’s trading session at $108.47.

Middle East Uprisings “Not Easy to Resolve”

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that the situation in Libya may be prolonged. The more one looks at uprisings in the Middle East, the more one realises they will not be easy to resolve.” said Christopher Bellew, senior broker at Bache Commodities, London.

“The trend continues to be up, and the market continues to be led by all the events in the Middle East. There are more worries about Middle East crude oil.” said Tom Bentz, a broker with BNP Paribas Commodity Futures, New York.

WTI Oil Price Advances

NYMEX WTI crude oil futures saw the highest settlement level yesterday since 22nd September 2008, up 28 percent from a year ago.

US WTI Oil Trading Statistics

Net long trading positions in oil held by hedge funds and other large speculators increased by 1.8 percent, to 292,066 in the seven days ended 29th March, the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) weekly Commitments of Traders report released at the end of last week.