Brent oil price trading up around $78, looking higher

Brent crude oil prices are trading higher on Monday in Asia and bounced off a seven week low on speculation above average global fuel stockpiles will decline as demand picks up with the economy recovering from the worst recession since World War II.

Brent crude oil futures for January settlement rose as much as 73 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $78.25 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the contract was at $77.84 a barrel at 12:15 p.m. Singapore time.

Oil traded near $76 a barrel after falling December 4th as the US dollar gained on a Labor Department report showing US employers cut the fewest jobs in November since the recession began. Oil prices are “perfect” and there’s no need for OPEC to reduce global inventories, said Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi.

“What you’re really seeing is the oil price has this ability to stay in a range and not do too much, alot of people are just trying to readjust their portfolios,” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney. “OPEC has also said they’re comfortable with the level of these prices.”

The US dollar strength will certainly hurt a lot of the ability for crude oil to trade higher. If we can stay above these levels, a lot of people are going to get quite aggressive.

Tags:  brent oil price, futures, ICE, oil trading, OPEC, US dollar