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Oil up in Asia tension builds ahead of OPEC meet
REUTER
Singapore: Oil edged up in Asia on Friday as major importers complained of high prices, two weeks away from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (Opec) meeting to fix its fourth quarter supplies. The producer cartel Opec controls the bulk of internationally traded oil supplies. Benchmark New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) Oct crude futures were last traded at $31.69 a barrel, six cents up versus Thursday's settlement by 0705 GMT.Trade volumes were thin but sentiment firmed after profit-takers cut 39 cents off the market on Thursday, where it settled lower at $31.63 a barrel. US prices rallied above lofty $32 a barrel earlier this week, after reports chopped US crude stocks down to new 24-year lows for the week ending Aug 18, the second time stocks had tumbled sharply in a month. This raised concerns that the Northern countries may face a shortfall of heating oil this coming winter. Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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