Inventories push crude prices lower

Crude oil prices were lower Wednesday after weekly US inventories reports showed that stockpiles of oil and gasoline were up much more than had been anticipated last week, but declines were limited by the possibility that OPEC could cut production to support prices.

November contracts for West Texas Intermediate were down $1.10 to $88.96 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after going as low as $86.05 per barrel earlier in the session, while Brent crude for November delivery dropped 27 cents to $84.39 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

The US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories gained 8.1 million barrels in the week, while gasoline stockpiles added 7.2 million barrels but distillates, including heating oil and jet fuel, in storage dropped half a million barrels.

Nymex November gasoline futures were down 3 cents to $2.03 per gallon while November heating oil fell a cent to $2.49 per gallon.

Base metals prices were lower while precious metals were mixed on the session.

Copper, which was down by 7.1 percent at one point in London recovered to close down $385 to $5,227 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange while December copper fell 18 cents to $2.36 per pound in New York.

Aluminium was down $53 to $2,250 per tonne while lead fell $55 to $1,575 per tonne, zinc was $120 lower to $1,430 per tonne, tin dropped $1,300 to $14,900 per tonne and nickel closed down at $13,200 after falling to as low as $12,975 per tonne during the session, its lowest price in nearly three years.

December gold was up $24 to $906 per troy ounce in New York while December silver gained 36 cents to $11.74 per troy ounce.

January platinum, however, dropped $8.60 to $1,012.10 per troy ounce.

Grains prices were higher on the Chicago Board of Trade, with December wheat adding 4 cents to $6.08 per bushel while December corn was up 10 cents to $4.27 per bushel and November soybeans gained 38 cents to $9.64 per bushel.

Story link: Inventories push crude prices lower