Dubai Crude Oil Surpasses $41 Mark

The price of Dubai crude oil rose above $41 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the spot and futures prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which had skyrocketed, has started going down.

The price of Dubai oil rose $0.97 from the previous day to close at $41.35 a barrel on August 20, said the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) on August 22.

The Dubai crude oil price has been climbing since it surpassed the $40 mark on August 18, the first time it had done so since the second oil shock in the early 1980s.

The Brent Crude oil spot price was also up $0.68 to $45.52, surpassing the $45 mark.

The price of WTI, however, fell $0.91 from the day before to end at $47.82. WTI futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) also turned downward. The NYMEX WTI price for September delivery dropped $0.84 to $47.86. The spot price of Brent oil increased, but the Brent oil futures price for September delivery at the International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) was down $0.79 to finish at $43.54. “International oil prices, including WTI, fell slightly with the forecast that political instability in Iraq would be eased over the weekend, and with the increased sales in the market to realize marginal profits,” said the KNOC. It is analyzed that the Dubai oil price kept rising because it is mainly traded in Singapore where the market situation is reflected a day later.

Ji-Wan Cha cha@donga.com