Oil slipped on Thursday from the highest closing price in almost 18 months as investors liquidated positions ahead of the Easter holiday. US crude for May delivery fell 30 cents to $83.46 a barrel at 0555 GMT, after settling at $83.76 a barrel on Wednesday, the highest close since October 2008. London ICE Brent declined 26 cents to $82.44.
US crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange will not trade on Friday because of the holiday. "The trigger for downside in the short term will be liquidation from speculative funds because there is an Easter holiday this weekend," said Keichi Sano, general manager of research at SCM Securities in Tokyo.
Oil prices dipped briefly on Wednesday after government data showing US crude inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels to 354.2 million barrels last week, their ninth straight gain. Gasoline stockpiles logged a modest but unexpected gain. "Yesterday's data was a bit weak, but the market still has good appetite to go higher," Sano said.
"The global economy is getting better. I begin to feel that real demand is much stronger that what we see." The first-quarter increase of 5.5 percent for front-month crude was the fifth consecutive gain for the contract, but its more than doubling from a December 2008 low still puts it well short of a record high hit just five months before that.
It is this volatility that oil producers and consumers hope to tackle in annual meetings on the outlook for energy markets, part of an effort to deepen co-operation between producer and consumer members of the International Energy Forum. "This is a very big achievement. Years ago the producers and consumers had absolutely (no) dialogue. We are seeing a lot of change," said Qatar's Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah in Cancun, Mexico, where minister met. After the wide swings in the past two years, prices have recently stabilised near the range favoured by members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) between $70 and $80 a barrel.
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