Oil prices edge lower in Asian trade

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Oil prices edged lower in Asian trade Monday as Nigeria's oil unions suspended a two-day-old strike Saturday, relieving concerns of possible disruptions to shipments, dealers said.

The market remains focussed on tight gasoline (petrol) supplies as the peak-demand US summer driving season got underway Saturday, they added

At 10:40 am (0240 GMT), New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, was down 30 cents at 64.90 dollars per barrel from 65.20 dollars in US trades Friday.

Brent North Sea crude for July shed 40 cents to 70.29 dollars.
US and London markets are closed Monday for holidays.

Concerns over the Nigeria's oil unions' strike were eased as the government agreed to their demands over a planned sale of two refineries.

"The strike threatened to stop oil shipments. Since it was suspended over the weekend, the pressure is off a bit (and) the market this morning is just trading downward a little," said Victor Shum, a senior principal at Purvin and Gertz consultancy in Singapore.

He said trade Monday would be "very thin" due to the close of markets in the US and Britain.

Analysts said the tight US gasoline supply situation continues to drive the market.

"The gasoline supply situation has improved somewhat and refineries' (capacity) utilisation in the US has finally rebounded above the 90 percent level but the production of gasoline needs time to catch up with demand ... so the supply situation remains tight," Shum said.

The US Department of Energy reported last week that stockpiles of gasoline rose 1.5 million barrels in the week ending May 18 but were still "well below the lower end of the average range."

The market continues to track developments over Iran's contested nuclear programme.