Inventories report cuts crude prices in New York

Crude oil prices were down slightly in New York Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration released its inventories report for the week ending 30 January, but declines were limited by the possibility that OPEC could cut more production.

The EIA reported that US inventories of crude oil added 7.2 million barrels last week, well above the gain of 2.9 million barrels in storage that had been anticipated, while US gasoline inventories added 300,000 barrels and distillates in storage declined by 1.4 million barrels.

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was down 40 cents to $40.32 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but March contracts for Brent crude added 17 cents to $44.25 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex March gasoline futures added 5 cents to $1.22 per gallon.

The price of copper gained slightly Wednesday on the possibility that demand in China could revive after a report showed that manufacturing activity there contracted less quickly in January than it has in past months.

March copper added a cent to $1.53 per pound in New York while three-month copper added $2 to 3,375 per tonne, or $1.54 per pound, on the London Metal Exchange.

Precious metals prices were also up, following gold higher as investors searched for safe places to put their money and UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) projected that the price of gold will average $1,000 per troy ounce in 2009.

April gold added $9.70 to $902.20 per troy ounce in New York while March silver was up 17 cents to $12.47 per troy ounce, April platinum was $6.20 higher to $971.10 per troy ounce and March palladium gained $5.05 to $198 per troy ounce on the session.

Grains prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade as March soybeans added 3 cents to $9.49 per bushel but March corn fell 3 cents to $3.58 per bushel and March wheat dropped 10 cents to $5.42 per bushel.

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