Crude futures declined Monday as traders continued to liquidate on optimistic supply comments from OPEC's president and expectations that prices would slip further away from the US$50 threshold. Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah, who is also Kuwait's oil minister, said the group's current output and spare production capacity will keep the market well supplied through the year. Some market-watchers had expressed concern about demand later this year, but Al Sabah said OPEC will pump 30.5 million barrels a day _ 300,000 to 500,000 barrels a day above current levels _ to meet its estimate for fourth-quarter demand. Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 56 cents to US$48.11 a barrel by late morning in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to a report of the Associated Press. Heating oil prices fell nearly 2 cents to US$1.3517 a gallon (3.8 liters), while unleaded gas fell 2 cents to US$1.3900 a gallon. On London's International Petroleum Exchange, June Brent crude futures fell 59 cents to US$48.07 per barrel.
