Oil futures mixed ahead of EIA data

Crude-oil futures were mixed in Asian trade Wednesday with Brent crude still pressured by yesterday’s weak economic data from Europe, while U.S. oil markets await weekly stockpile reports.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November CLX4, +0.09%  traded at $91.67 a barrel at last check, up $0.11 in the Globex electronic session.

November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange LCOX4, -0.04%  fell $0.10 to $96.75 a barrel.

Relatively stronger economic data from the U.S. explains why the U.S. dollar BUXX, -0.17%  has been climbing in recent weeks, contributing to a risk-off trade flow across a broad range of commodities, analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures said.

He said with the oil market already oversold, crude prices are unlikely to break down in a dramatic fashion, but the Brent crude contract for November delivery could continue to grind lower in line with its declining price trend.

Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute — a trade group — said its data showed a 6.5-million-barrel drop in U.S. crude stocks in the week ended Sept. 19, while stocks of gasoline rose by 91,000 barrels and distillates rose by 3 million barrels.

The closely watched survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later Wednesday. Analysts expect U.S. oil inventories to have risen by 500,000 barrels.

Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for October RBV4, -0.33%  — the benchmark gasoline contract — fell 87 points to $2.6200 a gallon, while October diesel traded at $2.6750, 82 points lower.

Source: marketwatch.com

Oil prices down on US stockpiles surge, OPEC reports

Oil prices fell in Asia thursday following an unexpected surge in US stockpiles and reports that the OPEC oil cartel is unlikely to slash production when it meets in November.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery dipped 55 cents to $93.87 while Brent crude for November eased 51 cents $98.46 in mid-morning trade.

Prices were under pressure "after the US Department of Energy reported an unexpected increase of US crude inventories by 3.7 million barrels instead of the market forecast for a 1.2 million decline," said Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) in a market commentary.

Gasoline stocks dropped 1.6 million barrels in the week to September 12, the data showed.

UOB said oil prices also took a hit after "conflicting reports" about the plans of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut its output in November due to a global supply glut and weak demand.

OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah El-Badri said Tuesday the cartel would cut output in November, which helped lift prices from a two-year low. But a Dow Jones Newswires report Wednesday, citing unnamed OPEC delegates, said the organisation was unlikely to cut in November.

A stronger dollar added downward pressure to oil, which is traded in dollars and becomes more costly for buyers using weaker currencies. The greenback rose after the Federal Reserve stuck to its timetable on hiking interest rates but indicated they could eventually rise more sharply than initially envisaged.

Sanjeev Gupta, head of the Asia-Pacific oil and gas practice at consultancy EY, said investors will next be scrutinising manufacturing data out of China and Germany on Tuesday for clues about global demand.

If the economic data from these two countries are lower than forecast, oil prices "may head lower in the near term", said Gupta.

Source: yahoo.com

Oil prices gain

Oil prices gained Wednesday, with the New York WTI benchmark barely higher as the US weekly stockpiles report showed a fall in inventory.

The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery, added two cents at $93.88 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for October meanwhile rose 22 cents to $102.72 a barrel in London deals.

The main news was a 2.1 million barrel fall in US commercial crude-oil stockpiles, larger than expected.

Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, depot where WTI is delivered rose, however, by 500,000 barrels.

The Energy Department's weekly report showed a 0.4 percent increase in total petroleum inventories, including distillates and gasoline, in relation to average daily demand.

The simmering conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East seemed not to bother markets.

Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said investors have been bouyed by "a string of strong economic data in the US".

Source: yahoo.com

Oil drops again

Oil futures dropped again Monday, as investors pushed geopolitical concerns surrounding violence and unrest in Ukraine and Iraq to the back burner.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in September CLU4, +0.26% fell 94 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $96.41 a barrel. October Brent crude LCOV4, +0.06% on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $1.93 to $101.60, its lowest finish in more than a year.

Despite Nymex and Brent gaining on Friday on reports of Ukraine destroying a Russian convoy, oil prices registered a loss for the week ended Aug. 15. On Monday, Russia's foreign minister said an agreement was reached on delivery of what Moscow says is humanitarian aid to Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials said control of an important dam in northern Iraq had been wrested back from Sunni militants. Last week, Nymex September crude lost 30 cents, while Brent crude for October lost $2.09.

Money managers such as hedge funds continued to cut their bullish bets on WTI crude the week ended Aug. 12, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures said that Money managers sold 19, 786 contracts of WTI crude-oil futures and options in the week ended August 12. The selling is bearish, but the net exposure is down to the lowest level since April 2013.

In Ukraine, government forces continue to engage pro-Russian separatists, who claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian jet, while government forces said they destroyed a Russian military convoy. In Iraq, the US is supporting Kurdish forces trying to retake the strategic Mosul Dam from Islamist State fighters.

However, Barclays analysts say that soft fundamentals stemming from weak oil demand, record Saudi oil output and rebounding production in Libya are overshadowing geopolitical risks.

Nymex reformulated gasoline RBU4, +0.28% blendstock for September -  the benchmark gasoline contract - fell 3 cents to $2.66 a gallon, the lowest close since Feb. 5, while September heating oil HOU4, +0.17% fell 4 cents to $2.81.

Source: marketwatch.com