Crude oil futures may fall on rising imports from OPEC

NEW YORK crude oil futures may fall this week as surging imports from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries boost US inventories, according to a survey of traders and analysts.

Twenty-one of 47 respondents in the survey, or 45%, predicted that oil futures will drop. Fourteen said prices will rise and 12 expected little change.

The 10 members of OPEC with quotas, all except Iraq, decided last month to raise their output quota by 2 million barrels to 25.5m barrels a day as of July 1, and by a further 500,000 barrels a day on August 1.