Oil lingered above the US$50 per barrel threshold in Asian trading Wednesday, breaching the mark for the second straight day ahead of key U.S crude stockpile data. Crude for November delivery traded at US$50.09 per barrel around 0700 GMT in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after inching up around midday in Asia. It hit US$50.47 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, analysts expect that data to be released by the U.S. Department of Energy later Wednesday will show crude stocks hitting a record low for the ninth straight week. Oil now costs around 75 percent more than it did a year ago but, when adjusted for inflation, still remains around US$30 below the level reached in 1981. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said Tuesday the spike in global oil prices will be a key issue at a meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations in Washington this week. OPEC's efforts to bring prices down to more moderate levels have failed, but giant producer Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it would boost production capacity by 15 percent to try to stabilize the market, according to a report of the Associated Press.
