OIL PRICE WATCH: Brent slides to low USD93

MARKET METRICS   Thu., Dec. 30, 2010 Crude Oil Opec Basket 90.22 +0.14 ($/bbl) ICE Brent 93.09 -1.05   Nymex Lt Swt 89.84 -1.28 Products Nymex (¢/gal)   Gasoline 239.18 +0.14   Heating Oil 248.54 -3.61   ICE ($/ton)   Gas Oil 765.75 -14.25 Natural Gas  New York 5.33 +0.08 Spot Prices Henry, LA 4.23 +0.05 ($/MMBtu)  Katy, Texas 4.17 +0.02   AECO, Canada 3.74 +0.10

Brent continues its gentle decline while Opec basket wallows near the USD90 mark, where it had settled for some time.

Some US economists say that oil at USD90 is not a burden that the world's largest economy can carry lightly, some are predicting that such high oil prices may cause economic decline however others say that oil prices are shooting up in light of the dollar's devaluation and they say if handled correctly with a strong export drive, the cheaper dollar could help sustain the US economy and bring forex values back into familiar territory.

Either way, it looks like Oil will cling on to USD90 for a while yet and there is every danger that it may rise ever so slightly and settle on the USD95 perch thanks to the exceedingly cold and snowy winter all over the US and Europe.