Headlines
-
Weaker dollar pushes crude higher
-
Gold hovers above 1000 $/oz
-
Copper crosses 6100$/t level
Brent and Distillates
Brent edged up near to 70$/b, recovering from the previous days’ losses as the dollar weakened against the euro and resource currencies like the Australian dollar on Wednesday. However, today crude price goes down, as traders takes profit and latest U.S. data may signal weak demand.
The latest U.S. inventories data shows that crude stocks rose 2.8 mln.b last week, well above the consensus forecast for an increase of 600 kb. It was partly due to high crude imports last week, averaging 9.53mln.b/d. Petrol stocks fell 1.6mln.b, confounding the consensus forecast for a rise of 1mln.b. Distillate stocks rose 300kb, below the consensus forecast for an increase of 1mln.b. But refinery utilisation dropped 1 % to 84.6 % as demand for crude from refineries remained low due to poor profit margins and maintenance programs.
U.S. refining margins fell last week as product price losses outstripped a fall in crude. The fall in margins could lead to additional refinery run cuts and, as a result, a growth in crude inventories.
Nigeria confirms that the country is in talks with several state-run Chinese oil firms wanting to buy proven reserves but has not offered them stakes in licences already being exploited by Western companies. However, Nigerian militant group warns Chinese companies from investing to the country.
Japan's commercial crude inventories fell to their lowest since at least April 2004 last week, reflecting a rapid decline in demand in the world's third-biggest oil consumer amid an economic slowdown. Crude oil stocks fell by 6.9 mln.b to 86.81 mln.b in the two weeks to Sept. 26, the Petroleum Association of Japan said.
The U.S. government on Tuesday revised down U.S. oil demand in July to 4 % below year-ago levels as the struggling economy sent petroleum consumption to the lowest level for the month in 13 years. Oil demand in July was 133 kb/d less than EIA previously estimated at a revised 18.771 mln.b/d, the lowest since 1996. That's down 786 kb/d from a year.
China's crude oil stocks climbed for a second month in a row in August versus July, to stand at a new record high, an industry newsletter reported, as hefty crude imports continued to outpace refinery throughput. Crude stocks, including both government reserves and commercial ones, hit 284.7 mln.b at the end of August, up 2.2 mln.b from July.
Russian Gazprom has approved a new revised investment program for 2009, totaling 761.53 bln.Rb, down 158.91 bkn.Rb from the figure approved last December, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The approved budget for 2009, in its new version, also takes account of a 407.9 bln.Rb reduction in the company's revenues and cash receipts, in the wake of the global economic crisis.
