Crude Falls For Second Day On Norwegian News

Crude oil fell for the second time in three sessions on expectations of increased supply from Russia and Norway, the world's second and third largest exporters of the commodity.

Norway reiterated a decision to restore normal supply starting in July, ending six months of cooperation with an OPEC export reduction measure. Russia made a similar statement on Friday. OPEC member Saudi Arabia, the top exporter, expects the producer group to keep supply limits in place in the third quarter.

“The Norwegians were reluctant to go along with OPEC to begin with,” said Michael Fitzpatrick, a futures broker at Fimat USA Inc. in New York. “As supplies from the two increase, we can also expect OPEC members to cheat on their quotas and pump more.”

Crude oil for June delivery fell as much as 40 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $27.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract expires tomorrow. The more active July contract fell as much as 35 cents to $26.80 a barrel. Prices have risen forty one percent since the world's top exporters began cooperating on the supply reduction plan at the beginning of January.