Oil prices above $82 as traders look to US supplies, OPEC

17 March 2010 17 March 2010

BonTrade

US Light oil prices rose above $82 a barrel in trading on Wednesday after a report showed US crude oil inventories grew less than expected last week. US Light crude oil futures was up 55 cents to $82.25 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the NYMEX.

Meanwhile OPEC, content with prices over $80 a barrel, has no need to change output at a meeting in Vienna later today, even with oil supplies exceeding consumption, ministers said. OPEC members are set to continue exceeding production quotas even though the group’s own analysis shows it is pumping more oil than is needed by the market.

“Asia is where all the demand is coming from,” said David Carbon, head of economic research at DBS bank in Singapore. “The outlook for commodities like oil just has to be moving up.”