Light oil price trading back over $80 on buying activity

Light oil price is back above the $80 mark in trading on Tuesday amid seasonal buying activity and a weaker US dollar. Oil analyst and trader Stephen Schork said investors like to buy oil at this time of the year, expecting gasoline prices to move higher.

US Light crude oil futures for April delivery rose $1.16 to $79.86 a barrel on the NYMEX. “It is just going to be tough to force this market down this month,” said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates.

“It’s just chopping around. It’s rangebound … it’s been trading between $70 to $85 since October 2009 and there are some good reasons for that,” said Mike Wittner, head of oil market research at SG Commodities.

Crude oil prices between $70 to $80 per barrel were acceptable to producers. Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is likely to cut the price of all types of crude heading to export because of competition from Russia’s export blend and falling profit margins for fuel oil sales, traders said.

Tags:  buying, dollar, light, light oil price, oil price, trading, US