US crude oil inventories up substantially

New information released on Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration showed that crude oil inventories in the United States were up more than had been expected in the week ending March 24, while gasoline inventories were down much more than had been forecast. The news meant mixed prices in crude oil and higher prices for gasoline futures.

Crude oil stockpiles were up by 2.1 million barrels during the week, against an expected rise of less than 1 million barrels. The rise brought US inventories up to 340.7 million barrels, higher than they have been in seven years. A rise in oil imports of 769,000 barrels per day, to 10.1 million barrels per day, topped the 85,000 barrels per day increase in refining during the week, helped inventories to go up.

The relatively slow refinery activity also contributed to the 5.4 million barrel decrease in gasoline inventories, the largest drop in one week since August 2003. A decrease of only 1.3 million barrels was expected. At the end of the week, the gasoline inventory stood at 216.2 million barrels.

May contract West Texas Intermediate crude lost 22 cents to $65.85 per barrel by late morning on the New York Mercantile Exhange. However, Brent crude for May delivery had gained 12 cents to $65.01 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in London.

Precious metals prices were up again on the day, as gold added nearly $4 to trade at $568.50/$569.20 per troy ounce in late London trade after having fallen to $560 per troy ounce earlier. Silver peaked at $11.06 per ounce, surpassing most predictions from earlier and the year.

Among base metals, copper had its fifth record high in as many days, hitting a peak of $5,357 per tonne during the day on the London Metal Exchange. The rising prices have been put to strikes in Mexico, threats to supply in Indonesia, and declining inventories in LME registered warehouses. The three-month price on zinc remained high at $2,628 per tonne, only $2 below record highs reached earlier in the week.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: US crude oil inventories up substantially