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Journalism of Courage
Dealers said the firmer prices reflected profit-taking as traders bought back short positions taken out in the lead up to OPEC8217;s meeting in Vienna. Brent blend crude oil, the world benchmark grade, was up 29 cents cents a barrel at 33.00 at 1413 GMT. Earlier on Monday it dipped to 32.10.
The OPEC deal drew only lukewarm praise from Western consuming governments faced with angry motorists and oil dealers warned that cold winter weather and depleted oil storage tanks in the United States might conspire to keep prices near to current levels. The upward move was quot;technicalquot; rather than driven by fundamental factors, said Scott Carter, a trader at Tosco in London. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Sunday agreed to raise output by 800,000 barrels per day bpd, slightly above the pre-meeting expectations of 700,000 bpd.
