Amid tight supplies and speculation, crude prices down 3%

NEW YORK — Fears of tightening global supplies have helped push oil prices 33 percent higher since the middle of February.

On Tuesday, crude prices declined more than 3 percent after Goldman Sachs warned investors that the price of oil is due for a "substantial pullback."

Analyst David Greely noted that global supplies remain "adequate" following a rebellion in Libya shut which down production there in February. Previously, the desert nation exported about 1.5 million barrels per day, about 2 percent of global demand — mostly to the southern European countries of Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery gave up $3.71, or 3.4 percent, to $106.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, shedding nearly two weeks of price increases. At one point it dropped to $105.60. In London, Brent crude lost $3.47, or 2.8 percent, at $119.95 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.