Crude oil futures rise again on later supply concern

Crude oil futures rose Monday as traders worried that supply would be tight again later this year.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude oil futures for July delivery rose 51 cents to end at 49.16 dollars a barrel. Meanwhile, on London's International Petroleum Exchange, the July Brent crude oil futures climbed 34 cents to 48.37 dollars a barrel.

The Nymex June oil futures contract expired at the end of last week at 46.80 dollars a barrel, a three-month low. Oil futures for later delivery were higher than contracts close to expiration as traders bet that excess inventories would be used up in the second half of the year when demand typically rose.

During the Memorial Day holiday from Saturday through Monday, about 37.2 million Americans would take trips, and roughly 31.1 million vacationers, or 84 percent of the total, would travel by motor vehicle.

Historical data showed New York crude oil futures usually rose in the four weeks prior to Memorial Day.

Source: Xinhua