Oil Edges Higher
Feb 25th, 2009 | By Doug Casey | Category: Financial NewsIn the energy market on Tuesday, crude for April delivery gained $1.52 to close at $39.96/barrel. March reformulated gasoline rose 4 cents, to $1.0837/gallon.
“Chances are high that OPEC will move again to put through more cuts when it next meets on March 15,” wrote Edward Meir of MF Global (NYSE:MF). The weakness in the U.S. stock market had weighed on commodity sentiment in the previous session, when oil slumped 4%, he added.
OPEC has already agreed to cut cartel quotas by 4.2 million barrels a day since September, equivalent to about 5% of global oil demand.
The 11 OPEC members with quotas, all except Iraq, reduced output 3.8% to 25.3 million barrels a day in February, consultant PetroLogistics Ltd. of Geneva said yesterday. That’s down from 26.3 million barrels in January, according to Conrad Gerber, founder of PetroLogistics. Members have a quota of 24.845 million barrels a day.
Additionally, the Energy Information Administration will release data on U.S. petroleum supplies at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by Platts expect an increase in crude inventories of 2.25 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 20. The analysts also expect a decline of 300,000 barrels in gasoline stocks as well as a drop of 1.8 million barrels in distillate stocks.
Doug Casey is a contrarian investor, sought-after public speaker and author of several books. His work "Crisis Investing" held the position of # 1 bestseller on the New York Times list for 26 consecutive weeks. Doug's unusual views on the economy - and just about everything else - have gained a huge following in the investment community, and it certainly helps that his stock recommendations of undervalued junior exploration companies have made his subscribers millions. Now in its 27th year, Doug's monthly newsletter, the International Speculator, is one of the most established and esteemed publications on gold, silver and other natural resource investments. Together with the Casey Energy Speculator, it covers a broad range of carefully selected stocks with the very real potential of double- and triple-digit returns within 12 to 24 months.