Brent oil futures open Thursday’s trading session hovering near $111 a barrel as investors and traders continue to worry over oil demand in the EU, which seems to be holding back another spike higher for oil prices.
Latest Brent Oil Price
In London, Brent crude oil futures for January 2012 delivery was trading at $111.02 a barrel, 08.52 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange.
The European oil contract closed off Wednesday’s session at $110.42 a barrel, or 0.4 percent lower.
Oil Demand in the EU
Continued problems over high, unmanageable debts in Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain look set to bring Europe back into a recession next year which will probably knock crude oil demand lower in Europe and oil prices will follow.
“The pressure on Brent is the weak economy in Europe. We are not sure if we are going to see significant growth in oil demand. It could be remain flat for a few years.” said Tony Regan, analyst at Tri-Zen Capital in Singapore.
Iran Tensions – Oil Prices Cheap?
“You’ve got some pretty bullish news out there and Brent failed to rally at the back of it. What’s the game?” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services, Sydney.
“Every time when there’s a problem in Iran, you don’t see the prices coming off. They should go up 5 to 10 percent. But once the market realises that oil prices are cheap enough and decides to take it on, prices will go up.”
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Brent oil price hovers near $111, worries over EU oil demand remain
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