Oil prices in sharp fall

Press, 25 February 1987, Page 36

Oil prices in sharp fall

NZPA-Reuter New York Oil prices fell sharply on Monday (early yesterday NZ time) after kay Arab oil producers failed to convince the market that they would take concrete steps to support O.P.E.C.’s target price of SUSIB a barrel. The price of the West Texas Intermediate grade, a benchmark for U.S. oil, stood at 5U517.40 in New York, down about 40c since Friday. Crude prices were stable or lower on foreign markets as well, with the British Brent grade falling 15c from Friday’s levels of $U517.30 a barrel for March delivery. Dubai, often viewed as a Middle East benchmark, was 5U516.92 a barrel in Tokyo.

Its official price in a two-month-old O.P.E.C. production/pricing agreement is $U517.42. “The market is back on the defensive since :i nothing resulted from the Arab Gulf States’ meeting,” said Jayne Ball, a broker at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. Oil ministers from six Gulf States have agreed to help each other sell oil in the face of stiff buyer resistance to official prices of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. They also reaffirmed support for the O.P.E.C. pricing/ production agreement, but failed to call for any new initiatives to shore up the faltering pact.