Crude oil price pauses after huge rally

Traders who have steadily boosted crude since the month began took a deep breath yesterday, with prices dropping on concerns of an overbought market and rising shale production.

Earlier this week, the price of Brent for January settlement had raced above $64 a barrel as arrests of senior officials in Saudi Arabia raised questions about instability there.

It has now slipped 53c to $63.74 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange as the market lingered at overbought levels, and Opec said US shale output will soar to 7.5 million barrels a day in 2021, 56% than forecast a year earlier. Strength in the dollar also acted as a downward force on oil because it weighs on investor interest in commodities priced in the currency.