Oil, steady above $82 on Wednesday, was headed for its fifth consecutive quarterly gain as recovering demand outweighs ample supplies and concern over monetary tightening in leading economies. Front-month crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have gained almost 4 percent since December 31 2009, trading at $82.30 a barrel at 0455 GMT, down 7 cents from Tuesday.
Brent crude for May declined 13 cents to $81.15 in London. Prices traded as low as $69.50 this quarter in February, having touched $83.95 a barrel in January, the highest since October 2008 at the peak of the financial crisis. That range of less than $15 is much more stable than the wide price swings of the previous two years.
Implied volatility for US crude is now at its lowest level since prices surged to a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11, 2008, before plummeting to $32.40 in December of that year. Some major consumers at the biannual International Energy Forum (IEF) being held in Cancun, Mexico this week agreed with Opec members' claims that a price of $70-80 price was good for both sides.
Providing sufficient revenues for producers and incentives to build new projects, but not so high as to choke off growth in importing nations. The IEF aims to produce a statement when the meeting concludes on Wednesday outlining measures to minimise oil price volatility, including steps to increase market transparency.
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