By Nicole Friedman
NEW YORK--Oil prices ticked higher Tuesday as the dollar
weakened, but held near multimonth lows on ongoing concerns that
the market will remain oversupplied.
Light, sweet crude for December delivery recently traded up 49
cents, or 0.6%, to $81.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Prices fell to a more-than-two-year intraday low Monday after
Goldman Sachs slashed its oil-price forecasts for 2015 and called
for U.S. prices to fall to as low as $70 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the dollar slipped against other major currencies
after the Commerce Department reported that purchases of durable
goods fell by 1.3% in September, contrary to expectations of a 0.7%
gain.
A weaker dollar makes oil, which is traded in dollars, more
affordable to buyers using foreign currencies.
Brent recently rose 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $85.97 a barrel on ICE
Futures Europe.
Oil prices have been falling for months as global supplies have
remained ample and demand growth hasn't kept up with production.
Brent and U.S. futures are near multimonth lows.
Barclays on Tuesday cut its price forecasts for the fourth
quarter of 2014 and the first half of 2015. The bank expects Brent
to average $89 a barrel in the fourth quarter, $88 a barrel in the
first quarter of 2015 and $87 a barrel in the second quarter, down
from its previous averages of $93 a barrel, $95 a barrel and $92 a
barrel, respectively. For U.S. prices, Barclays is calling for $81
a barrel in the fourth quarter, $78 a barrel in the first quarter
and $80 a barrel in the second quarter, down from $85 a barrel, $87
a barrel and $86 a barrel, respectively.
"After a period of substantial surplus in the first half of
2014, oversupply appears to be shrinking at present, but current
market balance projections suggest it could expand again in early
2015," Barclays said.
The bank maintained its forecasts for the second half of 2015 on
the expectation that low prices would spark demand.
November reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently
rose 0.62 cent, or 0.2%, to $2.1764 a gallon.
November diesel gained 0.25 cent, or 0.1%, to $2.4776 a
gallon.
Write to Nicole Friedman at nicole.friedman@wsj.com
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