NEW YORK (Dow Jones) – Crude oil prices settled lower Wednesday, held by a stronger dollar and signs of a decline in American industry. Yet prices ended well above the lows of the day and traders noted some tentative signs of strength in the remaining U.S. oil market oversupplied.
Light, sweet crude oil futures for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $ 78 cents, or 1%, lower at $ 76.02 per barrel. That’s the lowest price since September 9 and 1.5% less than one month high hit on Monday, but well above the day low of $ 74.66 per barrel. On the ICE October Brent North Sea crude settled down 25 cents at $ 78.91 per barrel.
Heavy dollar buying by the Bank of Japan the yen, a 15-year high versus the U.S. currency on Tuesday hit sets tone for a weaker dollar to reduce crude oil. A survey by the New York Federal Reserve Bank on Wednesday, the industry in the region fell to its lowest level since July 2009. The Empire State Manufacturing index fell to 4.14 in September from 7.10 in August and was well below analysts’ expectations of a 7.0 reading in the month.
Prices of crude oil, stuck in a range of $ 70 – $ 80 per barrel for the last few weeks have tested the top of the range in recent days after a major pipeline that approximately 30% of U.S. imports of Canadian crude was shut down After a leak. Now, if Enbridge Energy Partners has recovered from a line to the Midwest and is awaiting approval to resume the flow, have short-term tight supply concerns illuminated, renewing pressure on prices. Front-month October crude settled at a discount of $ 1.10 for a barrel of crude oil to November, suggesting there is no short-term supply squeeze, dealers said. The discount had narrowed to 84 cents a barrel on Monday.
The Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude oil stocks fell 2.489 million barrels in the week ending September 10, in line with market expectations and reported a surprise increase by a large group of trade one day earlier. Gasoline inventories fell by 694,000 barrels and distillate stocks (diesel / heating oil) fell by 340,000 barrels. Refiners trimmed operations with respect to capacity by 0.6 percentage points, but abolished processing of crude oil to a one-month high above 15 million barrels per day.
Total crude oil and oil stocks declined in the last week but remained near its highest level since January 1983.
Demand for gasoline, the most widely used petroleum product in the world’s largest oil consumer, fell 2.6%, or 244,000 barrels per day to 9.019 million barrels per day in the week of the Labor Day holiday, the EIA data pale. Gasoline demand was the weakest in six months, as the remnants of Hurricane Earl hit the U.S. east coast.
With gasoline season is over and winter approaching, traders said investors are placing faith in the demand for distillate fuel before the winter season.
Distillate demand in the last week was the highest since mid-June, and demand in the past four weeks was up 11.5%, or 395,000 barrels per day from the previous year level, which is a 10-year low.
“The U.S. is the distillate provider of the world, and demand is very strong,” said Kyle Cooper, a managing partner at IAF Advisors in Houston, referring to the recent high export levels. Analysts said the investors hope that the increase in exports to Latin America, and the increased demand, high inventories that recently the highest level since January 1983 slash.
But others noted that the apparent strength in distillate demand refinery profit margins driven to produce the high fuel to four months, which may lead to even higher stocks as demand drops.
Nymex heating oil futures were supported by the data and distillate were the only strong point in the oil futures contracts. October-delivery heating oil settled 0.38 cents to $ 2.1326 a gallon, the highest level since 09.08.
October reformulated gasoline blend stock futures settled 0.65 cents to $ 1.9625 a gallon.
More information about the settlements and the highs and lows for futures on Nymex and ICE platforms can be found by searching for the following main points:
Nymex Light Crude Oil Close
Nymex RBOB gasoline Harbor close
Nymex heating oil fund close
ICE Brent crude oil close
ICE Gas Oil Close
source:wsj
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