Crude oil inventories lower in US

Oil prices were volatile on Wednesday, especially in New York, as the US Energy Information Administration released its weekly report on inventories.

Prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange were lower before the EIA figures were released, saw gains right after the new figures were announced, and then were back down in early afternoon trade, dropping 6 cents to $72.75 per barrel for August contracts.

Brent crude for August delivery dropped 33 cents to $76.07 per barrel late in the day on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

At the same time Nymex August gasoline dropped 4 cents to $2.33 per gallon, while August heating oil was 2 cents lower to $2.11 per gallon and September natural gas fell 6 cents to $6.75 per million British thermal units.

After recent gains in oil prices, OPEC again insisted that it did not need to increase production quotas, as the blame for price increases had to do with refinery problems, political issues and speculation, and not inadequate oil supplies.

Meanwhile, metals prices were mixed on the day.

Gold prices dropped in New York, ending the session $2.30 lower to $662.10 per troy ounce after the US dollar declined against the euro once again after a gain of $13.80 in the past three sessions.

In other precious metals, September silver ended the day even at $12.98 per troy ounce in New York, while October platinum added $2.60 to $1,316.10 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, September copper traded at $3.62 per pound in New York, 1 cent higher on the session, while in London it was 0.4 percent higher, or $35, to $7,940 per tonne, with gains coming on continued strikes in Chile and on dropping inventories in London Metal Exchange warehouses.

In other base metals, lead prices were 1 percent higher in London to $2,965 per tonne, while nickel gained 2.2 percent to $33.350 per tonne.

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