Crude settles lower

Prices drop by more than $5 during intraday but recover partly going into close

Crude futures fell by more than $5 today, Wednesday, 25 June, 2008 but then recovered partly to end lower by more than $2 as crude inventories climbed for the first time in six weeks. Rising crude prices led to lower consumption of oil and thereby increasing the inventory.

Crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for August delivery today closed at $137/barrel (lower by $2.45/barrel or 1.8%) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded as low as $132 during intra day trading. Last week, it closed lower by 0.2%. Prices are 94% higher than a year ago. For the year, crude is up by 38% till date.

The EIA reported today that U.S. crude supplies climbed by 800,000 barrels to 301.8 million for the week ended 20 June. It was the first reported rise since early May. Supplies had fallen a total of nearly 25 million in five weeks.

EIA also reported that motor gasoline supplies fell 100,000 barrels to 208.8 million barrels. Distillate stocks were up 2.8 million barrels at 119.4 million barrels.

Brent crude oil for June settlement today fell $2.13 (1.6%) to $134.33 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The London benchmark rose 54% in FY 2007, the most since 1999 when prices more than doubled.

Natural gas in New York declined amid speculation moderate weather in the biggest consuming regions would reduce demand for gas-fired electricity for air cooling. Natural gas for July delivery fell 25.8 cents (2%) to settle at $12.753 per million British thermal units. The July contract expires tomorrow. The August contract fell 26 cents, or 2 percent, to $12.866 per million Btu.

Against this backdrop, July reformulated gasoline fell 6.9 cents to finish at $3.3941 a gallon and July heating oil dipped 6.4 cents to end at $3.7492 a gallon.

At the currency markets on Wednesday, the dollar was little changed against the euro before the Fed's statement. After that, the dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of major currencies, was at 73.01, compared to 73.22.

The Federal Reserve today sharpened its focus on inflation, saying that the upside risks to inflation have increased. Fed held its target for short-term interest rates steady at 2%.

Oil prices had shot higher by almost $11 a barrel on Friday, 06 June, 2008 scoring their biggest one-day gain in dollar terms as talk about a potential Israeli attack on Iran combined with a slide in the U.S. dollar. Prices had touched an all time high of $139/barrel but closed at $138.5. That was an all-time closing high.

At the MCX, crude oil for July delivery closed at Rs 5,726/barrel, lower by Rs 112 (1.9%) against previous day’s close. Natural gas for July delivery closed at Rs 551.2/mmbtu, lower by Rs 8.7/mmbtu (1.5%).