Oil prices decline to near $106 per barrel

Singapore Oil prices fell to near $106 (Dh389.23) a barrel Monday as a slowdown in China's trade suggested global demand for crude may be slowing.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for April delivery was down $1.12 to $106.28 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 82 cents to settle at $107.40 per barrel in New York on Friday. In London, Brent crude was down $1.20 at $124.78 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Biggest deficit

China on Saturday reported its biggest monthly trade deficit in at least a decade in February as imports rebounded after a Lunar New Year holiday slowdown in January. But the combined figures for both months showed growth in imports and exports decelerating markedly. January-February export growth slowed to 6.9 per cent over the same two-month period last year, barely half of December's 13.4 per cent rate. Imports for the two months rose 7.7 per cent, down from December's 11.8 per cent.

Analysts at JBC Energy said China imported a record-high 5.95 million barrels a day of crude oil in February, an 8 per cent rise on January and 14.4 per cent higher than in February 2011. "An implied stockbuild of 840,000 barrels a day over the past two months at a time of near record outright prices indicates that China is shying away from its usual price-sensitive buying habits as supply security fears begin to gain the upper hand," JBC Energy said in a market report.