RTTN: Crude Declines From Three-Day High as EU Ministers Meet - report
Oil declined from a three-session high in New York amid concern that Spain may postpone a request for a bailout while European finance chiefs meet today to discuss additional funds for Greece, Bloomberg reported. Futures dropped as much as 0.7% after gaining the most since October last week.
Pro-independence parties in Spain's Catalonia won a regional vote, strengthening a drive for a referendum on secession in defiance of the nation's Prime Minister. European officials gather in Brussels today, less than a week after an all-night meeting failed to yield an agreement. Oil rose last week because of concern that fighting between Israel and Hamas and unrest in Egypt would spread and disrupt Middle Eastern crude supplies.
West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, for January delivery fell as much as 64 cents to US$87.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $87.88 at 1.34 p.m. London time. Futures gained 90 cents to $88.28 a barrel on Nov. 23, the highest settlement since Nov. 19. Prices rose 1.9% last week and are down 11% this year.
Brent for January settlement lost 14 cents to $111.24 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $23.36 to New York-traded WTI, compared with $23.10 on Nov. 23.
