Inventories up, crude oil lower

New inventories data that showed both crude oil and gasoline stockpiles up in the US in the week ending June 2 sent crude oil prices down on Wednesday as investors’ supply concerns eased somewhat. Crude oil inventories were up by 1.1 million barrels to a total of 346.6 million barrels as more crude oil was imported into the US and refineries did not process as much crude into petroleum products. Even though production was down, gasoline stockpiles added 1 million barrels on the week to a total of 210.3 million barrels on hand.

July contracts for Brent crude dropped by $1.26 to $69.55 per barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange in late afternoon trade in London. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery had lost $1.45 to $71.05 in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In addition, Nymex July unleaded gasoline was down 4.38 cents to $2.1350 per gallon, while July heating oil was down 5.26 cents to $1.9900 per gallon.

Metals prices were mixed. Precious metals were down, with gold losing about $6 by late in the day in London to trade at $624.50/$625.50 per troy ounce after having dropped as low as $616.40 per troy ounce earlier in the day.

Base metals, however, saw gains on the day. Copper was up late in the day, rising more than $600 from its low of the day to trade at $7,855 on the London Metal Exchange. Most of the gain had to do with continuing concerns over short supply. Among other base metals, aluminium was up $57 dollars from Tuesday’s close and $100 higher than its low point in the day to $2,610 per tonne. Zinc was up $280 to $3,640 per tonne, while nickel was trading at $21,325 per tonne late in the day in London.

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