Oil prices pull back from record highs

SINGAPORE – Crude oil prices eased off record highs yesterday after Venezuela’s president triumphed in a poll that could have unseated him and hit supply there, but market watchers said further rises were still likely.

Citing a barrage of bearish factors elsewhere in the world _ from continued unrest in Iraq to the threat of terror attacks in Saudi Arabia- experts suggested yesterday that a run toward the US$50 (N$300) barrel remained a firm possibility. September crude futures traded at US$45,91 a barrel at 0139 GMT yesterday, down 11 cents in after-hours electronic trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange.The contract had peaked at a fresh record of US$46,90 on Monday before the result of the referendum on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was known later that day.”I think the momentum is still riding for another push for another record number,” said Ng Weng Hoong, editor at EnergyAsia.com in Singapore.”So, 50 dollars is the obvious target of a sort, I think it will get there, putting my head on the chopping block,” said Ng, whose forecasts earlier this year for rise through US$40 proved accurate.Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East, is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter and provides almost 15 per cent of US oil imports.Elsewhere there were still signs of trouble, including unrest in Iraq and the battle by Russian oil giant Yukos, which pumps about 1,7 million barrels a day, to stave off bankruptcy.Energy markets have also been jittery amid fears of more terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and simmering civil unrest in Nigeria, which is the lead producer in Africa.-Nampa-APSeptember crude futures traded at US$45,91 a barrel at 0139 GMT yesterday, down 11 cents in after-hours electronic trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange.The contract had peaked at a fresh record of US$46,90 on Monday before the result of the referendum on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was known later that day.”I think the momentum is still riding for another push for another record number,” said Ng Weng Hoong, editor at EnergyAsia.com in Singapore.”So, 50 dollars is the obvious target of a sort, I think it will get there, putting my head on the chopping block,” said Ng, whose forecasts earlier this year for rise through US$40 proved accurate.Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East, is the world’s fifth-largest oil exporter and provides almost 15 per cent of US oil imports.Elsewhere there were still signs of trouble, including unrest in Iraq and the battle by Russian oil giant Yukos, which pumps about 1,7 million barrels a day, to stave off bankruptcy.Energy markets have also been jittery amid fears of more terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and simmering civil unrest in Nigeria, which is the lead producer in Africa.-Nampa-AP