World oil prices were mixed this evening as traders digested a euro zone bail-out plan and energy demand situation.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery, dropped 83 cents to $75.54 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June added 29 cents to $80.78 a barrel in London trade.
Crude futures had slumped by more than 10% last week as traders fretted about contagion fears from the Greek debt crisis.
However, prices rallied on Monday on the back of a massive €750 billion EU-IMF financial rescue plan for debt-ridden euro zone countries. The market then turned mixed yesterday as enthusiasm waned for the bail-out package and concern grew about Chinese inflation that could sap global economic growth.
Meanwhile, the US government's Energy Information Administration said today that US crude stockpiles had risen by 1.9 million barrels last week - more than double the amount forecast by analysts.
Stockpiles of crude in the US are closely watched because it is the world's biggest economy and the largest energy consuming nation.
And the International Energy Agency cut its projection for global oil demand this year in the face of public finance pressures in Europe that could drown recovery 'in an ocean of public debt'.
Worldwide oil demand is projected at 86.4 million barrels a day this year, up 1.9% from 2009 but 220,000 barrels a day fewer than the IEA had previously estimated.
While current attention is riveted on Greece, 'other large economies - and not only in Europe - face the increasingly pressing challenge of achieving an orderly fiscal consolidation in the next few months without jeopardising long-term growth,' the IEA said.
Oil demand growth is expected to be 'entirely' driven by emerging market and developing countries, notably in Asia, where economies are projected to expand this year by 6.4%, nearly three times as fast as in traditional industrialised nations.
The IEA, which seeks to coordinate energy policies among industrialised countries, also predicted that oil prices are likely to average $76.50 a barrel in 2010.
The agency also warned that hastily crafted moves to regulate markets could trigger oil price volatility and said the recent oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico should not lead to a ban on off-shore drilling.
