Oil teetering above $75 a barrel

24 September 2010

Written by Bob Burton

Crude oil prices were teetering above $75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as European markets opened this morning.

The commodity recovered from earlier losses to trade fractionally below yesterday's settle price of $75.18, while heating oil prices were also marginally lower at $2.108 a gallon at 02:50 Central Standard Time.

Both commodities were under pressure after further signs of weakness in the US economy, with the latest jobless claims figures sending markets lower in late trading yesterday and continuing to weigh this morning.

Although crude futures are set to register gains of around 1.6 per cent this week, the commodity has not stepped outside of the $70-$80 price range in six weeks.

Speaking to Reuters, Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp, commented: "We are essentially trapped in a range between $70 and $80. It's probably better to take the money off the table and wait to see if we are going to get out of this mess or not."

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