Oil Prices Slip On OPEC Forecast

[HenryTo]

Most up-to-date news on oil that I've found so far:
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Oil Prices Slip On OPEC Forecast

POSTED: 11:31 am EDT July 18, 2005
UPDATED: 11:39 am EDT July 18, 2005

NEW YORK -- Crude-oil prices were lower Monday, after OPEC issued a forecast of new demand.

That seemed to outweigh fears regarding the impact of Hurricane Emily on key oil fields that supply the U.S.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery was trading below $58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report that world demand would expand by 1.6 million barrels to nearly 83.7 million barrels a day.

That was 150,000 barrels a day less-than-expected.

OPEC also said the pace of demand growth would slow into the first part of 2006.

Oil traders continued to track Hurricane Emily, which slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Monday.

While forecasters predict the storm would not smash into U.S. rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, many oil companies were shutting down platforms as a precaution, and that was expected to disrupt the supply flow.