Futures Movers
June 10, 2011, 10:44 a.m. EDT
Oil falls on dollar, reports of more Saudi crude
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) â Oil futures lost nearly 3% Friday, hurt by a stronger dollar and reports that Saudi Arabia will pump more oil next month, sidestepping the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after the cartelâs meeting collapsed earlier this week.
Crude for July delivery (NMN:CL1N) declined $2.76, or 2.7%, to $99.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A Saudi newspaper has reported the worldâs top oil exporter is set to pump 10 million barrels of oil a day in July, according to analysts and news reports.
That would be 500,000 barrels a day more than Saudi Arabiaâs June production, analysts at J. P. Morgan said in a note. In addition, the kingdom is selling more oil to Asian refiners, the analysts said.
The news comes two days after OPEC members meeting in Vienna could not reach an agreement on an official output increase and kept production targets unchanged, spurring a spike in oil futures.
Also Friday, the OPEC released its monthly oil market report, estimating OPEC production at 31 million barrels of oil a day in the third quarter of this year, an increase of 2.1 million barrels a day on-quarter.
The cartel warned of a supply gap in the second half of the year, although it tempered the gloomy forecast by casting more doubt on global economic growth, a proxy for demand. Read more OPEC short-term outlook.
Also impacting oil markets was news China imported about 21% more oil than a year ago. âHigh oil prices have therefore not dampened demand in China,â analysts at Commerzbank said.
Chinaâs May trade surplus expanded from April, but the pace of growth was slower than analysts had expected, raising worries about lower domestic-demand growth. Read more about China export/import data.
The dollar traded higher compared to major rivals on Friday. The dollar index (NYE-DXY) , which compares the greenback with six other currencies, traded at 74.710, up from 74.200 in North American trading late Thursday.
A stronger oil is negative for oil and other dollar-denominated commodities as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.