Oil was down in the Asian trade today due to weaker US energy demand and as traders locked in profits from the previous day’s gains, analysts said.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, lost 57 cents to $99.02 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for the same month dipped 82 cents to $111.71.
“Investors might be taking in profits as it is approaching a long week-end in the US market,” said Mr Ker Chung Yang, commodity analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore, referring to a public holiday on Monday to mark Memorial Day.
He said a less than expected fall in US crude inventories, which reflect softer energy demand, helped push prices lower. The US is the world’s biggest oil consuming nation.
Data by the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude inventories last week fell less than what the market had expected.
Analysts said however that oil prices remain on an upward trend, partly due to the continuing turmoil in the crude-producing Middle East and North Africa region.
Goldman Sachs estimated Brent oil would hit $130 a barrel over the next 12 months.