Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed in New York after rising yesterday for the first time in four sessions as concerns eased that credit-market losses will result in an economic slowdown and reduce fuel demand.
Central banks have added more than $300 billion to their banking systems since Aug. 9 to boost confidence. Oil prices are also being supported by a forecast that a tropical depression in the eastern Atlantic Ocean may become a hurricane, potentially disrupting Gulf of Mexico oil production.
``The forecasts for demand continue to remain very strong so you have a pretty good market there,'' said Andrew Harrington, a commodities analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney. ``There's that developing storm situation and perhaps there are a couple of concerns around that front.''
Crude oil for September delivery was at $71.60 a barrel, down 2 cents, in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 7:15 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday the contract gained 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $71.62. Oil is down 9.1 percent from an Aug. 1 record of $78.77 a barrel.
Crude fell 5.3 percent last week on concern loan defaults would reduce growth. The European Central Bank yesterday loaned banks $65 billion, adding emergency funds for a third day, and said money markets are returning to normal.
U.S. demand for petroleum products rose to its highest level in two months in the week ended Aug. 3. The International Energy Agency last week pegged global oil demand for 2007 at 86 million barrels a day, unchanged from a previous forecast, even as it trimmed an estimate for fourth-quarter U.S. demand.
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