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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BigBull who wrote (610)	2/28/2001 4:36:37 PM
From: excardog	Respond to of 23153

DJ Nymex Close: Crude Falls To 7-Week Low As Sentiment Sours NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude oil futures deepened early losses to close Wednesday at their lowest levels in seven weeks, as bearish sentiment continued to weigh on the market. Nearby April crude lost 77 cents to end at $27.42 a barrel - its lowest level since Jan. 8. March heating oil and gasoline futures plunged before expiring and exacerbating overall sentiment. March gasoline futures fell 5.21 cents to close at 81.00 cents a gallon - an eight-week low. March heating oil dropped 2.45 cents to close at 74.30 cents a gallon, the lowest level for a front-month heating oil futures contract since last May. Final settlements weren't in as of 3:45 p.m. EST (2045 GMT). The sell-off got underway in a more orderly fashion early in the session, as traders shrugged off data showing a lower-than-expected increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. Weekly inventory data released by the U.S. Department of Energy early Wednesday showed crude stocks rose 2.9 million barrels to 280 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 23. That was slightly higher than a build of 2.235 million barrels reported by the American Petroleum Institute Tuesday, but fell well short of analysts' expectations for an increase of 5 million barrels in stocks. Analysts had been projecting a big build in stocks to make up for a huge 12-million-barrels decline in inventories reported by the API and DOE last week. Still, the data failed to whet bullish appetite, as traders focused on a more bearish outlook for oil supply and demand, analysts said. Oil prices have come under increasing pressure amid signs that supply is growing and demand is weakening, thanks to the slowdown in the U.S. economy. The "overall message here is that the market doesn't particularly care what the level of U.S. crude inventories is, the market is still relatively well supplied," said Tim Evans, an analyst at IFR Pegasus in New York. Fresh indications that most members of the Organization of Exporting Countries are leaning toward reducing supply next month failed to reduce the damage, analysts said. A Saudi official told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday that the 11-member oil cartel is split on the size of an output cut, but most members feel a production cut is probably necessary ahead of the second quarter. OPEC meets March 16-17 to decide on production policy. The Saudi official said Persian Gulf members of OPEC are leaning toward a cut of 500,000 barrels a day, while Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico want a larger cut of 1 million barrels a day. The oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico - the three producers that engineered a series of output cuts that lifted oil prices to ten-year highs last year - are expected to meet in early March to decide on output policy. But an output cut is by no means a given. OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez said Monday that the group won't cut output if prices remain around current levels. And OPEC President Chakib Khelil said Friday that while he saw no pressure for another output cut, the cartel's decision would be based on U.S. economic data in early March. The inventory data showed a largely expected decline in gasoline stocks and a surprise draw in distillate stocks. Inventories of gasoline fell by 1.045 million barrels to 204.149 million barrels, as gasoline demand surged to 8.398 million barrels a day, according to the API data. The DOE showed a tiny draw of 100,000 barrels. Distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, declined by 992,000 barrels to 115.240 million barrels, as demand grew to 4.2 million barrels a day, API data showed. The DOE reported a larger draw of 1.1 million barrels. Despite the declines, refined products inventories stand comfortably above last year's levels, the data showed. (MORE) Dow Jones Newswires 28-02-01

To: BigBull who wrote (610)	2/28/2001 9:29:36 PM
From: upanddown	Respond to of 23153

John, heard anything on the big el plunjo in gasoline prices today? Bad API? Bull, doesn't seem to be the API/DOE's. They were neutral to mildly bullish. Gas demand seems robust for February. I think it was technical action in the Mar contract which closed today. Looks like Apr will open 7-8 cents higher. The decline in crude was more surprising given the weak build. So what is your current outlook? Hope you don't think we came over here because we don't want bearish views. We came because we were tired of the nonsense. The feuds (with slider at the center of every single one) triggered thousands of useless posts and reached a point of total absurdity. Nobody wants it but when people can't control themselves, they have to be excluded to save the thread. Everyone here values your opinion. So, whaddayathink? John