December 22, 2006	Friday	Ziqa’ad 30, 1427

LONDON, Dec 21: World oil prices slid below $63 on Thursday on profit-taking, despite a further attack on oil infrastructure in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest exporter of crude. Prices dropped a day after New York crude had struck a three-month peak caused by a drop in US crude stockpiles.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, dived $1.17 to $62.55 per barrel in pit trading.

On Wednesday the contract had touched a three-month high of $64.15.

In London on Thursday, Brent North Sea crude for February delivery slid 89 cents to $62.34 in electronic trading.At Mitsubishi Corp’s international petroleum business in Tokyo, Tony Nunan, said that $63 was “a pretty healthy” level for prices.

The US Department of Energy had revealed on Wednesday that inventories of crude oil slumped 6.3 million barrels to 329.1 million in the week ended Dec 15.

That was more than triple the decline expected by analysts who had predicted a drop of just 2.0 million barrels.

However, levels of distillate products, which include heating oil and diesel, increased by 1.2 million barrels to 133.1 million over the week.

Analysts had expected a drop of 600,000 barrels.

Gasoline or petrol reserves rose 1.0 million barrels to 200.9 million, the DoE report showed, against forecasts of no change.

Earlier this week, crude futures had rebounded strongly as traders reacted to thick fog barring Gulf of Mexico tankers from the busy shipping channel in Texas.

“It seems that shipping delays along the Gulf Coast and especially along the Houston Ship Channel did affect the market significantly, with delayed imports to refineries in Texas because of heavy fog,” said Sucden analyst Michael Davies.—AFP