Prices stable but analysts warn oil may hit $40 barrel

Oil traded near $46 a barrel in New York as the market weighs a force majeure declared by Exxon Mobil on crude shipments out of Nigeria against excess US oil and product inventories.

Futures fluctuated between losses and gains in New York amid low volume trading. Exxon declared force majeure on shipments of Nigeria’s biggest crude export grade.

Force majeure —a legal clause that allows Exxon to stop shipments without breaching contracts — was declared on Qua Iboe terminal crude after “a system anomaly observed during a routine check of its loading facility,” the company said