Oil falls for a fifth day on forecast gains in US supplies
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
NEW YORK, April 13 (Bloomberg): Oil declined for a fifth day amid forecasts of an 11th consecutive weekly gain in US crude supplies, signaling fuel demand in the world's biggest energy consumer may be slow to recover.
US inventories of crude oil probably rose 1.15 million barrels as imports climbed, according to a Bloomberg News survey. It would be the longest stretch of increases in five years. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Washington. Prices also dropped as the International Energy Agency boosted its forecast for non- OPEC supplies.
"The current price is way ahead of fundamentals. It reflects positive future developments too much," said Eugen Weinberg, senior analyst with Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "As investors become aware of economic risks, they might trim their bets."
Crude oil for May delivery dropped as much as 82 cents, or 1 per cent, to $83.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $83.69 at 9:02 a.m. London time. Brent crude dropped 57 cents to $84.20 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Non-OPEC producers, accounting for about 60 per cent of the world's supplies, will raise output by 600,000 barrels a day this year to average 52 million barrels a day, the IEA said in its monthly market report today. That's 220,000 barrels a day more than estimated last month. The agency left its forecast for global oil demand in 2010 little changed, 30,000 barrels a day higher than in last month's report.
Oil inventories are at their "highest in history," and there is no shortage of supply, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah said yesterday at a press conference in Doha. Qatar is the second-smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about 40 per cent of the world's oil.
It's "premature" to declare that the current slump is over, the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cycle Dating Committee said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The body is responsible for determining when US recessions begin and end.US gasoline inventories probably dropped 1 million barrels from 222.4 million the prior week, according to the survey. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 1 million barrels from 145.7 million the prior week, said the survey.
Schork is maintaining a neutral outlook for prices until levels "settle significantly distant from $85."
The Brent price overtook the Nymex price for the first time since Dec. 21, based on the May contracts. The ICE future is trading at 61 cents a barrel premium to New York.
Brent May futures expire on April 15. The more active June contract was at $85.23 a barrel, down 48 cents, at 9:01 a.m. local time.
US inventories of crude oil probably rose 1.15 million barrels as imports climbed, according to a Bloomberg News survey. It would be the longest stretch of increases in five years. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Washington. Prices also dropped as the International Energy Agency boosted its forecast for non- OPEC supplies.
"The current price is way ahead of fundamentals. It reflects positive future developments too much," said Eugen Weinberg, senior analyst with Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "As investors become aware of economic risks, they might trim their bets."
Crude oil for May delivery dropped as much as 82 cents, or 1 per cent, to $83.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $83.69 at 9:02 a.m. London time. Brent crude dropped 57 cents to $84.20 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Non-OPEC producers, accounting for about 60 per cent of the world's supplies, will raise output by 600,000 barrels a day this year to average 52 million barrels a day, the IEA said in its monthly market report today. That's 220,000 barrels a day more than estimated last month. The agency left its forecast for global oil demand in 2010 little changed, 30,000 barrels a day higher than in last month's report.
Oil inventories are at their "highest in history," and there is no shortage of supply, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah said yesterday at a press conference in Doha. Qatar is the second-smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about 40 per cent of the world's oil.
It's "premature" to declare that the current slump is over, the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cycle Dating Committee said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
The body is responsible for determining when US recessions begin and end.US gasoline inventories probably dropped 1 million barrels from 222.4 million the prior week, according to the survey. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose 1 million barrels from 145.7 million the prior week, said the survey.
Schork is maintaining a neutral outlook for prices until levels "settle significantly distant from $85."
The Brent price overtook the Nymex price for the first time since Dec. 21, based on the May contracts. The ICE future is trading at 61 cents a barrel premium to New York.
Brent May futures expire on April 15. The more active June contract was at $85.23 a barrel, down 48 cents, at 9:01 a.m. local time.