US Light oil price trading at $80, looks to oil demand stats

US Light oil prices are trading around the $80 mark on Tuesday in Asia as investors mulled whether sluggish US crude oil demand justified the oil price rally over the last few weeks.

Benchmark US Light crude oil futures for April delivery was down 34 cents to $79.97 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the NYMEX. The contract added 25 cents to settle at $80.31 on Monday, but gains were tempered by a stronger US dollar.

Oil prices have jumped from $69 barrel on February 5th on investor optimism that the global economy will rebound strongly from the 2009 recession, which in many people’s eyes, is still ongoing. Growing inventories of crude oil, gasoline and diesel fuel suggest demand in the US remains weak.

Some analysts expect crude demand in the US and Japan will gradually follow overall economic growth and lift oil prices.

“Continuing growth in the two largest developed market economies suggests that the economic recovery is still on track.” Goldman Sachs said in a report. “We expect that Japanese oil demand will break the trend of the past decade and grow in 2010.”

Tags:  Asia, investors, light oil price, oil demand, oil price, trading, US