Crude oil futures were trading lower Tuesday, readjusting after a sharp push to 14-month highs last week amid violence in Egypt.
Crude oil futures were trading lower Tuesday, readjusting after a sharp
push to 14-month highs last week amid violence in
Egypt
.
Traders said the 6.9% surge in
U.S.
benchmark crude to its highest level since May 2012 last week was overdone and
participants are taking to the sidelines to reassess the market.
"We are really overbought here and ripe for a correction," said Andy
Lebow, senior vice president for energy futures at Jefferies Bache.
Violent clashes between the Egyptian military and supporters of ousted
President Mohammed Morsi have claimed dozens of lives and ignited a rally in
oil prices, at a time when exports from
Libya
also
have been disrupted.
Traders said talk of timeline for a new Parliament to be in place in six month
and presidential elections to follow ensures that the concerns will have a
lasting effect in the market, while at the same time offering some promise for
potential stability in the near term.
"The situation in Egypt means we are not going to see oil under $90 a
barrel anytime soon and maybe not under $100 a barrel, if the U.S. economic
recovery kicks in," said Carl Larry, analyst at Oil Outlooks and Opinions.
The market is awaiting data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration at
10:30 a.m. EDT
Wednesday to see if demand continues to be strong.
Last week, the EIA said
U.S.
oil
use hit 20.392 million barrels a day, the highest weekly level since December
2010, while gasoline demand hit the highest level since August.
August light, sweet crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were
39 cents lower, at $102.75 a barrel. ICE August North Sea Brent crude was 19
cents lower, at $107.24 a barrel.
Though
Egypt
isn't
a major oil producer and exporter, it is home to the
Suez
Canal
and the SUMED pipeline, which carry oil from the
Middle
East
. According to the EIA, 3.8 million barrels a day of crude oil and
petroleum products transited the canal and the pipeline in 2011.
Reformulated gasoline blendstock for August delivery was 1.06 cents higher, at
$2.8939 a gallon, while August heating oil was 0.78 cent lower, at $2.9723 a
gallon.
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