Oil settles below $60 on demand pessimism

• Source: Xinhua
• [08:29 July 11 2009]
• Comments

Oil prices settled below 60 US dollars a barrel on Friday as investors were still pessimistic about the demand in the second half of 2009.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped to an intra-day low of 58.72 dollars a barrel before rebounding to settle at 59.89 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending the week with a 10 percent drop.

The oil prices were pressured by the latest monthly report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in which the Paris-based organization said signs of a strong rally in global economic growth and oil demand were fading. The IEA predicted the oil demand for 2009 would shrink 2.9 percent, unchanged from its previous forecast, however, the organization added that there could be a 1.7 percent rebound in demand next year.

In London, Brent crude for August delivery dropped 70 cents to 60.40 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.