Econintersect: Oil prices have been pulling back as questions about U.S. demand, a possible slowdown in China and growing crude oil inventories weighed on the market. Weekending prices for crude peaked on the New York Merchantile Exchange on January 14 and have been falling unevenly since. On January 28 the price was $89.34. On week later, oil closed the week at $89.03 and last Friday $85.58. The New York price is based on West Texas Intermediate light,sweet crude oil.From Shanghai Daily:
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude fell 49 cents to settle at US$84.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude fell US$1.44 to settle at US$102.29 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
U.S. stockpiles of crude oil continue to rise, undercutting the price of benchmark WTI.
The Energy department releases its weekly report on petroleum supplies on Wednesday. Analysts expect it to show increases in supplies of both oil and gasoline, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Oil supplies have been growing for weeks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub, which is the delivery point for WTI crude.
Support for oil prices is still coming from concerns that further unrest in the Middle East could disrupt supplies from that region. See GEI News.
Sources: Shanghai Daily and New York Merchantile Exchange data
