Crude Oil Falling On Conflicts Between Opec And US

Crude oil futures extended their falling Friday as traders digested the conflicting signals from OPEC and the Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greespan.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 12 cents to end at $46.80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On London's International Petroleum Exchange, the July Brent oil futures climbed 15 cents to settle at $48.03 a barrel.
On Friday, the market was digesting the conflicting signals from OPEC officials and Greenspan.

Earlier this week, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said his country was "ready to raise output as the market dictates", but on Wednesday, OPEC president Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah said the group could cut its output ceiling by 1 million barrels a day if global oil inventories piled up too quickly.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greespan, in his speech to the Economic Club of New York, said oil and gas prices had calmed a bit recently. He said the increased inventories of crude oil in the United States would help to curb the recent "price frenzy".