OIL FUTURES: Crude Sinks As Relief Over Greece Proves Brief
Last update: 6/18/2012 9:34:02 AM
--Crude drops as attention shifts from Greece to Spain
--Spanish bond yields top 7%
--Talks with Iran begin in Moscow
By Dan Strumpf
NEW YORK--Oil futures dropped Monday as rising Spanish bond yields revived worries over Europe's debt crisis, despite a victory of the pro-bailout party in Greece's elections.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.69, or 2%, to $82.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe fell $1.94, or 2%, to $95.67 a barrel.
Fears that Greece would depart the euro zone were briefly eased after Sunday's election saw a victory for the center-right party over its radical leftist opponents. But crude prices rallied only modestly before reversing course in European trading, as traders were reminded of the depth of Europe's crisis after Spain's borrowing costs rose past 7%. The level is seen as too high to sustain payments in the long term.
"Now the problems are in Spain, in Italy, with their bond yields going up higher," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "We're back in the anti-risk mode, which is driving down the cost of oil."
The 7% mark is seen as significant because it was the level breached by bonds issued by Greece, Portugal and Ireland before they began to lose access to financial markets and sought bailouts.
Traders have been closely following events in Europe because of concerns that the worsening fiscal crisis is slowing economic growth there and elsewhere, dampening demand for oil. Crude prices have fallen nearly 25% from their highs this year of $110 a barrel, pummeled by euro-zone jitters.
This week, market participants are also likely to focus on the progress of talks in Moscow with Iran, which run Monday and Tuesday, over the country's nuclear program. Tensions between Iran and the West have cooled considerably in recent months, easing fears of an imminent supply disruption, although two previous rounds of talks were unsuccessful in producing a firm agreement.
"The two sides remain far from a deal and the Moscow talks are expected to end without any concrete decisions," analysts at JBC Energy, a consultancy, said in a research report.
Front-month July reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently fell 5.19 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.6498 a gallon. July heating oil fell 4.39 cents, or 1.7%, to $2.6026 a gallon.
Write to Dan Strumpf at
dan.strumpf@dowjones.com.