Brent oil price trades closer to $100 mark as Greek debt crisis continues

4 October 2011 4 October 2011

LorieFuller31

Brent oil prices fell further back to the $100 mark in trading this morning as the Greek debt crisis continues to affect stock markets and commodity prices tumble as concerns the debt crisis could spread to other countries and spark a global recession.

Latest Brent Oil Price

In London, Brent crude oil futures for November 2011 delivery was trading at $100.83 a barrel, 08.10 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Brent Oil Forecast

Hedge funds and other money managers cut bullish bets on Brent crude oil prices by 36 percent in the week ended 27th September according to data from the ICE Futures Exchange.

Speculative bets that prices will rise, in futures and options combined, outnumbered short positions by 47,027 contracts, the London based exchange said in it’s latest weekly Commitment of Traders report. Net long positions fell by 26,243 contracts, from 73,270 a week earlier.

“Brent crude continues to feel the weight of economic concerns as it appears that Greece will miss deficit targets and worries about the health of European banks remain.” JP Morgan said in a research note.

Greek Bailout Funds Delayed

Meanwhile, Eurozone finance ministers have delayed a decision on giving Greece its next instalment of bailout cash after Greece said it would not meet this year’s deficit cutting target.

Greece has previously said it needed the money by the middle of October to avoid defaulting on its loans, but Eurogroup’s chairman said at a meeting that the country would be able to meet its financial obligations as long as it received the next 8bn euro tranche of money in November.

Greece has previously warned that, if it does not receive the money, it could go bankrupt within weeks, which would cause financial chaos, sending markets and oil prices lower still.

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