Oil prices flat near $74 a barrel, demand weighs

2 September 2010

Written by Neil Brunskill

Crude oil prices were flat around $73.80 a barrel as European markets opened this morning (Sepember 2nd), with the latest demand report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) causing concern among traders.

After rallying in the European trading session yesterday, crude prices were under pressure towards the end of the day after the EIA figures showed a larger-than-anticipated increase in fuel stocks last week.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Melbourne, said that prices may fall further as seasonal demand continues to weaken.

"The oil market has got some headwinds in front of it as it moves into a seasonal slowdown with very high stock levels," he told the news group.

Heating oil prices were also relatively flat this morning and were trading at $2.032 a gallon at 03:02 Central Standard Time, down 0.9 cents after rising three cents yesterday.

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