WTI, Brent slightly lower on inventories

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was 8 cents lower Wednesday to $79.97 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while November contracts for Brent crude dropped 19 cents to $77.19 on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

Nymex November gasoline was down 1 cent to 1.99 per gallon, while November heating oil gained 2 cents to $2.18 per gallon and November natural gas dropped 15 cents to $7.28 per 1,000 cubic feet.

The US Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories were up by 1.2 million barrels in the week ending 28 September, with most of the increase on the west coast although the WTI delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma added 300,00 barrels on the week.

Gasoline stockpiles, meanwhile, fell by 100,000 barrels and distillates dropped by 1.2 million barrels over the week even as refinery utilization added 0.6 percent during the week to 87.5 percent of capacity, slightly more than had been anticipated.

Precious metals prices were mixed in New York on Wednesday as the US dollar again managed to make headway against the euro following its repeated declines during the past couple of weeks.

December gold dropped 60 cents to $735.70 per troy ounce as analysts said they expected to see more declines in the short term but that prices could climb by next year, but December silver was 2 cents higher to $13.47 per troy ounce while January palladium climbed $13.90 to $1,368.90 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile among base metals, copper added 5 cents to $3.76 per pound in New York while three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was $102 higher to $8,262 per tonne.

Lead also gained ground on the LME, adding 3.1 percent to $3,625 per tonne after reaching $3,640 per tonne earlier in the session, a new record, on a mine fire in Australia.

In agricultural commodities, wheat and soybeans were higher but corn declined.

November soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade were 7.25 cents higher to $9.51 per bushel on reports that hot, dry weather has delayed planting in Brazil and is putting already-sown crops there in peril.

CBOT December wheat contracts added 4.5 cents to $9.27 per bushel, but December corn dropped 4.25 cents to $3.445 per bushel.

Meanwhile, November orange juice futures on the ICE Futures US exchange in New York gained 1.8 cents to $1.343 per pound on the possibility that the crop harvest to June 2008 could be at the low end of forecasts.

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