Oil Ceased Its Rising In Price, China Demand Declined

Oil price settled down from their record highs on Thursday, reacting on the profit-taking and news about decline of the Chinese oil demand.

US light crude fell 42 cents to $54.35 a barrel on the NYMEX.
London?s Brent dropped 72 cents to settle at $52.66 a barrel, after touching a record of $54.30 on Wednesday.

However, the prices held above $50 despite another increase in US crude oil inventories, which topped 300 million barrels for the first time since last July, the Energy Information Administration said.

The EIA this week upgraded its forecasts for oil demand this year and slashed its estimate of non-OPEC production, the latest in a string of revisions that have painted a far tighter picture for the oil market than initially expected.

But the news that China's oil imports dropped by 13% in the first two months of the year helped ease worries about a supply crunch, and fuelled profit-taking.