Crude prices fall on US inventories report

Crude oil prices were lower Thursday after the US Energy Information Administration released its latest report on US stockpiles, which showed that crude oil stockpiles added 1.8 million barrels in the week ending 6 November, against an expected gain of a million barrels, as total demand for oil fell by 4.3 percent and gasoline consumption dropped 1.9 percent.

Additionally, gasoline inventories gained 2.5 million barrels, while distillates added 300,000 barrels to stockpiles during the week.

December contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude fell $2.09 to $77.19 per barrel in late morning trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while at last report December Brent crude had dropped $1.87 to $76.08 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex December gasoline futures were down 6 cents to $1.93 per gallon in midday trade, while January heating oil was also 6 cents lower, to $2.03 per gallon.

December gold settled $7.90 lower to $1,106.60 per troy ounce, but not before rising to another new record at $1,123.40 per troy ounce, while December silver was down 28 cents to $17.27 per troy ounce and January platinum dropped $6.40 to $1,363.20 per troy ounce.

March copper was 2 cents lower to $2.97 per pound in New York while three-month contracts on the London Metal Exchange were down $37 to $6,503 per tonne after going as low as $6,468 per pound earlier in the session after LME inventories added 4,800 tonnes to 402,125 tonnes, their highest level since April.

Also hurting copper prices was a report that imports of copper into China dropped by 34 percent in October from September, exacerbating demand concerns, but declines were limited by fewer new jobless claims in the US last week than had been anticipated and by another mine workers’ strike, this time at a copper mine in Zambia.

Nickel inventories at their highest level since 1995, sent prices for that metal down $660 to $16,190 per tonne after going as low as $15,975 per tonne earlier in the session, while aluminium was $16 lower to $1,948 per tonne even though inventories fell on the session, zinc fell $34 to $2,150 per tonne, lead was down $44.50 to $2,260 per tonne and tin dropped $75 to $14,650 per tonne.

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