Crude oil inventories up in the US

The US Energy Information Agency reported on Wednesday that crude oil and gasoline stockpiles in the United States were up in the week ending July 14 send crude oil prices lower on eased supply concerns. Crude oil inventories in the US were up by 0.2 million barrels, against an expected decline of half a million barrels during the week. Likewise, gasoline stockpiles were up by 1.5 million barrels during the week, when those inventories were expected to drop by 0.7 million barrels.

Brent crude September contracts on the International Petroleum Exchange in London lost $1.22 to $73.14 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped $1.54 to $72.00 per barrel. With August contracts expiring at the end of the trading day on Thursday, Nymex September contracts were down $1.26 to $74.00 per barrel. In reaction to the higher gasoline inventories, Nymex unleaded gasoline dropped 5.7 cents to $2.100 per gallon.

Meanwhile, the president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said that his organization was “very uncomfortable” with the present price of oil. He said that prices would be below $70 per barrel in the absence of the current fighting between Israel and Hizbollah.

Prices for precious metals were up Wednesday. Gold added 1.4 percent to $639.40 per troy ounce, while silver gained 4 percent to $10.48 per troy ounce and platinum was slightly higher to $1,219 per troy ounce. Palladium was even at $308 per troy ounce.

Base metals were mixed. Copper was down by 0.6 percent to $7,760 per tonne even though there were strike concerns in Canada. Nickel, however, dropped 2.9 percent to $23,550 per tonne even though inventories are down to less than two days of global consumption of the metal in London Metal Exchange warehouses.

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