WSJ:OIL FUTURES: Crude Slightly Higher: Iran, Greece Remain In Focus
By Mari Iwata
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures rose slightly in Asia Tuesday, tracking gains in regional shares. But trading remained thin following the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $91.44 a barrel at 0652 GMT, up $0.58 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.52 to $107.63 a barrel.
Greek elections in early June and Iran's suspected development of nuclear arms will remain major factors affecting crude-oil prices, analysts said.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in a note Tuesday tipped prices to pick up by as much as $2 for both Nymex crude and ICE Brent in the near term, citing continued tensions between Iran and Western nations as well as the start of the U.S. summer driving season.
Signs that Greek voters will decide in June elections to choose the New Democracy party, which backs austerity measures required for an European Union bailout, are also supportive, it added.
Oil-market fundamentals are on an improving trajectory but remain in the back seat due to geopolitical worries in countries like Iran, Barclays said in a note.
The U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, China and Russia are scheduled to hold talks with their Iranian counterparts June 18-19 because they were unable to find a solution last week regarding Iran's nuclear program.
In addition, there is some concern about a possible negative impact on crude demand by a slowdown in China's economy. But Tomomichi Akuta, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting, said he doesn't share this concern over China, adding "the absolute volume of its crude use has been rising while its economy only slows but keeps growing."
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for June--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 139 points to $2.9068 a gallon, while June heating oil traded at $2.8407, 119 points higher.
ICE gasoil for June changed hands at $911.00 a metric ton, up $1.00 from Monday's settlement.
-By Mari Iwata, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-6269-2798; mari.iwata@dowjones.com
