Oil prices fell but held above $61 a barrel Wednesday ahead of a U.S. petroleum inventory report expected to show declines, as new forecasts raised global demand levels for the new year and warned of a looming price spike.
Light sweet crude for January dropped 30 cents to $61.07 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by afternoon in Europe. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 6 cents to $59.46 a barrel.
