Crude oil above $80, but slipping

4 March 2010

Written by Bob Burton

Crude oil prices were slipping this morning (March 3rd) after breaching the $80 (£53) mark on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday.

Losses this morning were also witnessed in heating oil futures trading on the exchange, with both commodities losing ground as the dollar climbed.

A stronger dollar tends to make dollar-priced assets such as crude oil less attractive to foreign investors as exchange rates become unfavourable.

However, speaking to Reuters, Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives manager at brokerage Newedge in Japan, said further rises could be imminent.

"The oil market will trade in a range of $75 to $85 at least for the next two months, and it will possibly go above $85 by the middle of this year, depending on economic recovery," he commented.

An upcoming report from the Energy Information Administration is likely to give the market a sense of direction as they assess demand for crude, heating oil and other fuels in the US.

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