Brent crude fell amid
speculation Ukraine��s election of a new president may help ease months
of tension with Russia, the world��s biggest energy exporter. West Texas
Intermediate slid in New York.
Futures dropped as
much 0.5 percent in London. Ukrainians voted billionaire Petro
Poroshenko as president yesterday, handing him the task of stemming
separatist unrest in the country, a conduit for Russian oil and natural
gas supplies to Europe. China, the second-largest oil consumer globally,
announced plans to slow the pace of energy demand.
Brent for July
settlement declined as much as 59 cents to $109.95 a barrel on the
London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange and was at $110.09 at 12:02
p.m. Singapore time. The contract gained 18 cents to $110.54 on May 23.
The volume of all futures traded was about 3 percent below the 100-day
average. Prices have lost 0.7 percent this year.
WTI for July delivery
decreased as much as 32 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $104.03 a barrel in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S.
benchmark crude traded at a discount of $6.025 to Brent. The spread
closed at $6.19 on May 23, the narrowest in five weeks.
There will be no floor
trading in New York today because of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday and
transactions will be booked tomorrow for settlement purposes.
Copy Source: Bloomberg
