Oil demand weak everywhere but not in Asia

Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi urged Opec to "stay the course" when it meets on May 28 and said oil prices would eventually hit $75 but cited weak demand as a problem, Platts oil agency reported on Saturday. "The problem is the market. Demand is only in one place, in Asia, that's all," Naimi was quoted as saying. "Inventories will go down. A good indicator is the contango has come down significantly."
He said crude prices would "eventually" rise to $75 per barrel but the "trick is how you keep it between $70 and $80", adding that the higher price "will be achieved as demand rises and the fundamentals are better than they are now", Platts said. Oil has rallied to a six-month high of more than $60 a barrel this week, almost double last December's low and well above the $50 level top exporter Saudi Arabia has said it could live with to help nurse the world economy back to growth.