Nov crude was over $36/bbl earlier today:
futuresource.com
Updated Wed Sep 20 09:17 ET
NYMEX Oil Pre-opg: Called higher on continued stockpile woes
OPENING CALL: Crude oil futures: Up 75-100 cents per barrel
Heating oil: Up 200 points per gallon
Gasoline: Up 150 points per gallon
By BridgeNews
New York--Sept. 20--NYMEX crude oil futures are expected to open higher as
the market continues to be concerned about low inventories of crude and heating
oil coupled with decreasing refinery utilization rates. Oct WTI hit a high of
$37.34 per barrel in Access trading, ending the overnight session up 77c at
$37.28. At 0858 ET, IPE Nov Brent was trading up 82c at $34.45 per barrel.
* * *
Oct heating oil ended Access trading up 159 points at $1.0350 per gallon,
while Oct gasoline ended up 137 points at 97.70c per gallon.
NYMEX Oct crude oil futures moved higher in overnight Access trade as
American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed U.S. crude stockpiles last week
fell by 2.035 million barrels, while the market expected a rise of 0.8-1.2
million barrels. Gasoline stocks also defied expectations, falling 21,000
barrels while analysts were looking for an increase of 0.3-0.6 million barrels.
Traders and brokers attributed the drop in U.S. crude stockpiles last week
mainly to a 690,000-barrel-per-day decline in imports from the previous week's
level of 9.358 million bpd, which helped to overshadow a slight decline in
crude use by refineries last week.
"The APIs showed us no good news," a broker said. "Not only do we not have
heating oil, we don't have crude to make heating oil and refinery utilization
rates are down." The broker added that a major refiner put off maintenance,
which should help ease the products pressure on the market but also increase
the potential for glitches and outages.
Oct's expiration Wednesday is expected to add upward pressure to the market.
"Traders were blowing the Oct-Nov spreads out to $1.50 yesterday, I think
that will continue today," a broker said. When asked how high Oct crude could
rise today the broker said: "It's a crapshoot. Crude continues to be a buy on
the dips."
Brokers continued to forecast that crude futures will reach $40 per barrel,
but said that would not happen Wednesday.
Meanwhile, OPEC Secretary-General Rilwanu Lukman Wednesday again detailed
the factors forcing oil prices higher outside the control of oil producers and
said in Jakarta that while the group would play its part in moderating prices,
it must be "careful" to avoid an oil price crash in 2001. Lukman said that
while the group stood ready to add crude to the market if necessary to bring
prices back to a preferred $22-$28 price range, the sour grades it could
provide could not be processed easily into required products. (Story .14086)
End
UPCOMING:
--NYMEX Oct crude futures expire Wednesday. IPE Nov crude futures expire Oct.
16; Nov options Oct. 5. NYMEX Oct product futures expire Sept. 29, Oct product
options Sept. 26.
--OPEC's heads of state meet Sept. 27 and 28 in Caracas to commemorate OPEC's
fortieth anniversary.
--American Petroleum Institute inventory data are due out after 1600 ET
Tuesday; U.S. Department of Energy after 0900 ET Wednesday.
IN THE NEWS:
Story
Number Headline
------ --------
.14086 Lukman says OPEC wants to avoid oil price crash in 2001
.13467 Lukman says OPEC will pump 500,000 bpd more if price stays high
.14035 Fabius to propose at IMF EU-US OPEC meeting on oil prices |
