WTI, Brent trade lower after EIA report

Crude oil prices fell Tuesday after morning gains on a new report issued by the US Energy Information Administration which cut its February global demand forecast by 200,000 barrels per day, while it said it expects that oil will average $42 per barrel this year and $53 per barrel next year.

The earlier gains came as equities markets advanced most analysts expected the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut production quotas again when it meets this weekend.

April contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down $1.36 to $45.71 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude fell 17 cents to $43.96 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex April gasoline futures were down 4 cents to $1.30 per gallon while heating oil for April delivery dropped 2 cents to $1.20 per gallon.

Copper prices advanced in New York and London on the possibility that a report due tomorrow will say that China imported more of the metal in February than it did in January and on more declines in London Metal Exchange stockpiles.

May copper was up 5 cents to $1.68 in New York trade, while at last report three-month copper on the LME was up $99 to $3,710 per tonne after earlier being up to $3,735 per tonne.

Three-month aluminium in London, meanwhile, added $31 to $1,330 per tonne despite another gain in inventories to 3.28 million tonnes, while other base metals also advanced in London.

Precious metals prices, however, declined.

April gold was down $22.10 to $895.90 per troy ounce in New York while May silver fell 40 cents to $12.54 per troy ounce and April platinum dropped $19.90 to $1,044.30 per troy ounce.

Earlier, in morning trade, palladium had dropped $1.65 to $197.45 per troy ounce.

Prices for grains on the Chicago Board of Trade were higher in afternoon trade as March soybeans added 8 cents, to $8.89 per bushel, while March wheat and March corn each gained 9 cents, to $5.22 per bushel and $3.66 per bushel respectively.

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