Oil falls as Spain finance worries resurface

Oil prices fell to a six-week low on Wednesday, as worries about the perilous state of Spain’s finances returned to the fore, snuffing out gains after Japan’s central bank became the latest to further open its monetary taps. “There is no specific news, but there are rumours that Spain could seek a bailout, which slammed the euro a bit, and that’s fed into oil,” said Rob Montefusco at Sucden Financial. Brent November crude fell 80 cents to $111.23 a barrel by 1050 GMT and touched its lowest since August 8. US October crude was down 41 cents at $94.88 a barrel. The contract expires on Thursday. US November crude fell 40 cents to $95.22 a barrel. Oil rose earlier as Japan followed the US Federal Reserve and said it would boost asset purchases in the face of a slowing global economy, spurring hopes other central banks would follow suit. Oil is down 4.5 percent so far this week. Some analysts think that quantitative easing will have little positive impact on oil prices. “The US fiscal cliff still hangs above the market. Up till now, the negative impact of this fiscal cliff is not priced in by the market and could still have a serious negative effect on oil prices,” ABN Amro said in a note to clients. On Tuesday, oil was pressured after a senior OPEC Gulf source said Saudi Arabia was pumping around 10 million barrels per day (bpd) and would take action to keep prices around $100. Brent has gained more than 25 percent since hitting a 2012 low of $88.49 in June as investors have worried about the security of supply from the Middle East and North Africa and on expectations for commodity prices to rise on economic stimulus moves by the United States, Europe and China. Attention will turn at 1430 GMT to the Energy Information Administration data showing inventory levels in the United States, to give an indication on the demand/supply dynamics. Crude and distillate stocks were expected to be up 1.0 million barrels, with gasoline inventories up 1.2 million barrels, a Reuters survey of analysts taken ahead of weekly reports showed. After Japan, investor focus turns to China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, with a preliminary reading of its manufacturing activity for September set for publication on Thursday, along with similar data from the United States and Europe. From : Khaleej times. br /