Oil falls below US$97 on ample supplies

Source: Agencies | October 24, 2013, Thursday |

Online Edition

The price of oil fell another 1.5 percent yesterday on higher US supplies of crude and weak demand for fuel.

Benchmark US crude for December delivery fell US$1.44 to US$96.86 a barrel in New York. The price has fallen 5 percent over the last week to its lowest level since late June.

Brent crude, which is used to price international oil used at many US refineries, was down US$2.17 to US$107.80 per barrel in London.

The US Energy Department said in a report issued yesterday that oil inventories rose by 5.2 million barrels over the past week. That followed the government's report released Monday that showed a 4 million barrel increase in crude supplies for the week ended Oct. 11.

Gasoline inventories decreased by 1.8 million barrels, but supplies of both oil and gasoline are at the upper range of their average over the past five years.

Demand for fuels fell 1.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Oil analyst Jim Ritterbusch said in a report yesterday that the market looked "oversupplied" because of rising US production.

Another factor in oil's recent decline, analysts say, is reduced risk of supply disruptions out of the Middle East — and a possible return of more Iranian crude to the global market — as talks between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear program have re-started.

In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 6.5 cents to close at US$2.552 a gallon.

— Natural gas rose 3.8 cents to close at US$3.619 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Heating oil fell 7.4 cents to close at US$2.923 a gallon.

Energy

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Oil falls below US$97 on ample supplies

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