Daily Telegraph: Oil prices drop on ceasefire: “Royal Dutch/Shell has waived its option to buy extra shares in top Czech oil refinery Ceska Rafinerska, saying it would maintain its 16.3pc stake.” (ShellNews.net)
By Edmund Conway (Filed: 31/08/2004)
Oil prices dropped by more than a dollar yesterday as traders bet that producers' cartel Opec would increase its output in the coming months.
The benchmark crude price in the US, light sweet crude, dropped $1.25 to $41.93 a barrel in late trading - the first time it has dipped below $42 for more than a month.
Many traders had expected oil prices to jump again yesterday, after an attack on pipelines in southern Iraq, but analysts said the markets were relieved that the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had ordered a nationwide ceasefire.
London's International Petroleum Exchange was closed yesterday for the bank holiday, but traders said they expected prices to start lower today. Fimat USA analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said: "There's the feeling security will definitely improve down the road."
US crude prices peaked at just under $50 on August 20, as traders fretted about the security of oil supply and the prospect that demand from China would continue to increase. Despite the attacks, Iraqi oil officials said they expect exports to remain at about 1.5m barrels per day.
• Royal Dutch/Shell has waived its option to buy extra shares in top Czech oil refinery Ceska Rafinerska, saying it would maintain its 16.3pc stake.