Oil prices down in Asian trade

SINGAPORE – Oil prices extended losses in Asian trade Friday as investors took profits after a recent rally.

Prices had surged after the US Federal Reserve decided to continue with its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program to support US economic growth, confounding market expectations it will announce a scaling down of the scheme.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery, fell 33 cents to $106.06 a barrel in morning trade after sinking $1.68 at the close in New York Thursday.

The European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in November, dipped 15 cents to $108.61 after declining $1.84 in London the day before.

Research house Capital Economics said the US central bank’s policy setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) “looks as if it may now proceed even more cautiously than we had assumed”.

“It seems likely that it will wait until its meeting in December at the earliest before announcing any tapering,” it said in a note.

Other analysts said the return to production of Libyan oil fields and the easing of tensions in the Middle East after Syria agreed to a plan to put its chemical weapons arsenal under international control helped ease prices.

“Libya’s El Feel and Sharara oil fields have reopened and will boost production levels, according to the oil ministry,” Malaysian bank CIMB said in a note.

It said “Libya’s production will rise to 700,000 to 800,000 barrels per day” following the reopening.

Protests by oil field and export terminal workers since July had crippled Libyan production.

Syria’s decision to agree to a US-Russian deal on its chemical arms averted a Western military strike on the Assad regime to punish it for using the internationally-banned weapons on its own people.