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The Today's News

Crude down in Asia on G7 calls for output hike

SINGAPORE: Crude sank in Asia Wednesday as a call by the Group of Seven nations for oil producers to increase output overrode US supply disruptions due to Hurricane Isaac, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, shed 37 cents to $95.96 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for delivery in the same month slipped 36 cents to $112.22. A call by the G7 industrial nations for oil producers to increase output interrupted a crude rally fuelled by US production facility closures due to Hurricane Isaac, said IG Markets Singapore market strategist Justin Harper. "The G7 seem a little late in making this request on oil producers as we could see subdued demand for the second half of the year, keeping energy prices contained," he told. G7 finance ministers said in a statement issued Tuesday that crude supply needed to be increased as higher prices posed "substantial risks" to the global economy "We encourage oil-producing countries to increase their output to meet demand, while drawing prudently on excess capacity," the statement, which was released by the US Treasury, stated. The G7 statement also suggested the leading industrial democracies were ready to tap into global strategic oil reserves to keep price pressure down.