Oil prices fell in New York today amid caution ahead of today’s speech by chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke. Any hint at further stimulus by Bernanke would likely boost demand for oil and other riskier assets. Minutes from the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed that policymakers were at odds over whether another round of quantitative easing was warranted. Late last week, voting member of the FOMC Dennis Lockhart said he would back further easing if there was no significant improvement in the US economy. Demand for crude oil futures was also pressure by comments from Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, who said the recovery in the world’s second largest oil consumer was not steady enough. He added that China could face economic hardship for a period of time. While the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark fell, Brent crude was on the rise as traders assessed the impact of the Norwegian oil strike that was ended by the government last week. Leader of the Industri Energi Leif Sande told Reuters today that another strike was possible if no agreement was reached. He added that the union could launch a strike at the Sture terminal, which could halt crude exports from the Oseberg field, which is part of the Brent benchmark. In the meantime, the UAE and Saudi Arabia announced that new pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz are now operational. Iran has previously threatened to block access to Hormuz – a major shipping route used to transport a fifth of the world’s oil – in response to a series of sanctions imposed by the US and the EU this year. On Sunday, the Iranian parliament again said it would consider shutting down the channel unless the sanctions were lifted with one lawmaker saying there was no alternative shipping route that could compensate for the closure of Hormuz. US light, sweet crude for August delivery, currently the most actively traded contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), fell 35 cents to US$86.75/barrel this afternoon. August Brent crude rose 23 cents to US$102.63/barrel on the ICE Exchange. Today’s top risers in the oil and gas sector were: Antrim Energy (LON:AEY), up 18.5 percent at 48 pence at midday Xcite Energy (LON:XEL), up 7.5 percent at 82.85 pence Salamander Energy (LON:SMDR), up 6.5 percent at 190.7 pence Petro Matad (LON:MATD), up 5.5 percent at 9.4 pence President Petroleum (LON:PPC), up 5.5 percent at 27 pence Bayfield Energy (LON:BEH), up 3.5 percent at 19.15 pence The top fallers were: Borders & Southern (LON:BOR), down 68 percent at 19.44 pence at midday Sound Oil (LON:SOU), down 13 percent at 0.887 pence Falkland Oil & Gas (LON:FOGL), down 9.5 percent at 77.78 pence Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH), down 9 percent at 231.14 pence Forum Energy (LON:FEP), down 8 percent at 120 pence Aurelian Oil & Gas (LON:AUL), down 6.5 percent at 10.25 pence

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