Crude oil prices gained a bit after falling for a third consecutive day at NYMEX in New York, which is their longest losing streak in over a month. WTI for June delivery was priced at USD $ 112.39 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent for June delivery was at USD $ 124.12 a barrel.
The decline in oil prices in New York was due to a US Government report which showed that crude oil stockpiles were increasing in the country. With the price of oil already on the higher side, the price is not expected to escalate by a huge amount, as it has already helped in slightly reducing the demand of oil and thus preventing the price from rising further. The prices were also low in the market owing to very low levels of trading in the Asian markets, since the investors were waiting for the decision from the US Federal Reserve over whether it will start tightening of the monetary policy or continue with its quantitative easing program. The Fed is expected to continue with maintaining very low levels of interest rates in order to boost the US economy, which will lead to a further depreciation of the US Dollar and a possible increase in demand of oil.
Brent continued to register slight gains on account of the continuing unrest in the Middle East, with the Libyan crisis still not getting resolved.