Oil price may hit $US100 in days
Pastor Dale Morgan
Oil price may hit $US100 in days*
From correspondents in New York
November 10, 2007 07:33am
Article from: Reuters
OIL rose above $US96 overnight on winter fuel supply concerns, a
tumbling US dollar and big options positions betting oil could strike
$US100 next week.
US crude rose 70 cents to $US96.16 a barrel by 1906 GMT, off earlier
highs of $US96.68 a barrel. London Brent crude climbed 46 cents to $US93.25.
Oil struck a record $US98.62 a barrel on Wednesday as falling
inventories in consumers nations stirs worries of a supply shortage
during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Support has also come from a large volume of options positions for
$US100 oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange still open despite the
expiration on Tuesday.
Experts said that with 42,000 options contracts to buy oil at $US100
still open, financial players may try to push oil into triple digits
ahead of the expiration.
"I think the one thing that people are continuing to eye is the options
expiration," said Eric Wittenauer, analyst at AG Edwards in St. Louis.
"I think people would be hesitant to sell into this market."
Oil prices could tumble though once the options expire, Lehman Brothers
said in a research note.
While concerns about the economic health of top oil consumer the United
States helped drag down prices from Wednesday's record, low inventories
of crude in consumer nations continue to support.
European distillate stocks fell for the fifth month in a row in October,
while the giant US market remains tight.