** API report shows unexpected rise in gasoline stocks **
REUTERS POLL FORECAST * ACTUAL FOR
FOR WEEK ENDED 07/30/99 WEEK ENDED 07/30/99
CRUDE...........DN 2.000 MLN 336.234 DN 4.966 MLN
DISTILLATE......UP 1.400 MLN 139.697 UP 4.392 MLN
GASOLINE........DN 1.200 MLN 210.103 UP 1.944 MLN
UTILIZATION.....DN 0.750 PCT 99.1 PCT DN 0.3 PCT PT
*NB- The forecast is derived by polling at least six
market analysts, omitting the high and low forecast and
averaging.
NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The American Petroleum
Institute weekly stocks report, showing an apparent decline in
demand for gasoline, sent oil prices lower late on Tuesday.
The report showed a surprising rise in national gasoline
stocks last week, the result of rising imports and tapering
demand, analysts said.
"It was really gasoline that was holding up the complex at
this point," said Tom Bentz, a trader and analyst at Cresvale
International.
Forecasters had expected a build in distillate stocks, but
the higher than predicted build of 4.4 million barrels may
pressure the NYMEX petroleum complex. Market expectations were
for an increase of 1.4 million barrels in distillate stocks.
Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates said that the
API data will be markedly bearish for refined product prices
and slightly bearish for crude oil prices.
"The gasoline stock numbers look decidedly bearish to me,"
Ritterbusch said. "It's up 1.9 million barrels. I thought we'd
have a draw of three million barrels. Some of these revisions
in refinery activity have gotten a few people out of sync."
The crude statistics, showing a draw on stocks of nearly
five million barrels nationally, were discounted somewhat
because they've been so erratic in recent weeks.
The latest week's numbers showed that 1.6 millioin of the
increase was on the West Coast (PADD 5), which traders East of
the Rockies tend to ignore. The Gulf Coast region showed a
decline in stocks of 2.3 million barrels, though imports shot
up last week to more than 9.5 million bpd, suggesting that the
stocks number was lagging. |
