EIA numbers show US oil inventories higher

The price of crude oil fell in New York on Wednesday on Energy Information Administration data showing that stockpiles of crude oil, gasoline and distillates such as heating oil and diesel fuel all grew last week and on figures showing that demand for gasoline fell by 2.1 percent in the past for weeks over demand in the same period last year.

February contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude went as low as $35.52 per barrel before ending floor trade 43 cents below Tuesday’s close at $37.35 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report Brent crude was trading 31 cents above its price on Tuesday at $45.14 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

In the week ending 9 January, US crude oil inventories were up 1.2 million barrels to 326.6 million barrels while gasoline stockpiles added 2.1 million barrels to 213.5 million barrels and distillates in storage gained 6.4 million barrels to 144.2 million barrels.

Nymex February gasoline futures were a penny higher to $1.16 per gallon on the session while February heating oil futures dropped 5 cents to $1.47 per gallon.

Precious metals prices were lower as the US dollar strengthened further in relation to the euro.

The strength of the dollar reduced gold’s attractiveness as an investment, sending February gold $11.90 lower to $808.80 per troy ounce in New York, a five week low.

In addition, March silver was down 21 cents to $10.48 per troy ounce while April platinum dropped $20.20 to $935.50 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, March copper was down 6 cents to $1.49 per pound amid continuing demand concerns.

Grains prices were higher on the Chicago Board of Trade, where March wheat added 3 cents to $5.74 per bushel while March corn was up 4 cents to $3.66 per bushel and January soybeans gained 8 cents to $9.78 per bushel.

CBOT March soybeans remained unchanged at $9.71 per bushel.

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