Oil prices have risen steadily this quarter. Benchmark crude hit a 26-month high on Monday near $92 per barrel and is forecast by some analysts to be headed to $100, driven by quantitative easing in the United States and as data supporting robust growth in India and China drive demand. Analysts believe OPEC's evident reluctance to increase output and the prospect of continued dollar weakness add to the case for costlier oil in 2011.
Even as investors are mulling mixed signals over crude supply numbers from the Energy Information Administration, there are clear indications that the Gulf state leaders have no plans to stop pricing oil in dollars. The rumour had traders hitting the panic button.
Recent dismal economic data and growing U.S. inventories kept oil prices below $50 a barrel Friday despite hopes of a possible second-half recovery in crude demand. Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 40 cents to $49.58 a barrel by Noon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Thursday rose 73 cents to settle at $49.98.
After falling from $147 to $35 per barrel towards the end of last year, crude oil has once again gained and touched $45 per barrel on speculation that China's stimulus plan may spur demand for the commodity near term. However, some experts are of the view that this is not just speculation but real purchases driving the prices up.
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