Middle East Economic Survey

VOL. XLVIII

No 20

16-May-2005

Crude Prices Plunge On Report Of Demand Slowdown

WTI and Brent crude oil prices fell below the critical $50/B mark last week. Added to the bearish effect of growing crude oil inventories was an IEA estimation of shrinking demand growth, and the two factors combined to outweigh a strong contango in crude futures and concerns over US refining capacity constraints, pulling prices lower. There was some bullish news: on 9 May OPEC officials...