Advanced Search

Related News

Home » Business » Energy

Oil falls below US$98; analysts see supplies rising

Source: Agencies | October 23, 2013, Wednesday | Online Edition

Oil closed at the lowest level since June yesterday as recent data indicate that there is plenty of supply to meet current demand.

Benchmark US crude for November delivery dropped US$1.42, or 1.4 percent, to close at US$97.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest close since June 28.

The November contract expires yesterday. The more heavily traded December contract fell US$1.38 to US$98.30 a barrel.

The US government said the economy added 148,000 jobs in September, a number that suggests employers held back on hiring before a 16-day partial government shutdown began Oct. 1. It wasn't a number that signaled an increased need for gasoline for the daily commute.

The jobs data came a day after the Energy Department reported a jump in US crude supplies. The government said Monday that US crude supplies rose by 4 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 11. The report was delayed five days due to the government shutdown.

Analysts at The Schork Report estimated that US commercial crude oil stocks are at the third highest level for October since 1930 and 13 percent above the normal range over the previous decade.

Expectations are that supplies rose by another 3 million barrels last week. The Energy Department reports that figure on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 33 cents to US$109.97 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline slipped 4 cents to US$2.62 a gallon.

— Natural gas dropped 9 cents to US$3.58 per 1,000 cubic feet.

— Heating oil fell 1 cent to US$3.00 a gallon.

Energy


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend