Oil Rises to $47 Per Barrel, Despite Unchanging OPEC's Supply Quota unchanged

Oil rises despite OPEC keeps supply quota unchanged

2009-03-17 05:40:47

NEW YORK, March 16 (Xinhua) --

Crude oil price rebounded on Monday as rally in the stocks market helped to offset the news that OPEC will keep supply levels steady.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 1.10 U.S. dollars to settle at 47.35 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures dropped to as low as 43.62 dollars in the weekend's electronic trading after OPEC announced its decision of sticking to current output quota rather than making further production cut.

Crude oil had seen a build-up in price leading to OPEC's Vienna meeting on Sunday as the market was speculating that the oil cartel will reduce more output to shore up prices. As some members have voiced support for another cut, Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, believed the organization should work more the full compliance of existing production cuts.

OPEC has made a total of 4.2 million barrels of reductions since last September. The cartel will meet again on May 28 to reassess the prices and supply of the world oil market, and a fresh output cut remains an option.

But traders basically shrugged off supply-side factor brought by OPEC and focused instead on the encouraging remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on U.S. economic recovery.

Bernanke, being the first Fed chairman to appear on TV interview, said on Sunday's CBS "60 Minutes" program that the U.S. recession will probably end this year and people will see recovery in 2010, if the government could stable the financial system.

Bernanke's comment delivered a boost to market confidence, which sent the U.S. stocks gaining for the most of day's trading. Crude futures, which closed earlier than stocks, rebounded strongly above 47 dollars a barrel.

In London, Brent crude for April delivery fell 95 cents to settle at 43.98 dollars on the ICE Futures Exchange.

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