Oil Falls Below $60 as Demand Declines, Fuel Supplies Climb
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By Mark Shenk
July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell below $60 a barrel for the first time since May 26 after reports showed that U.S. fuel inventories increased as the recession curbed consumption.
Stockpiles of gasoline and distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose last week, an Energy Department report showed yesterday. Total daily fuel demand in the past four weeks dropped 5.9 percent from a year earlier to average 18.4 million barrels, the Energy Department said.
“The momentum is clearly in favor of the bears,” said John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy at MF Global in New York. “This is a reality check for all of those who ignored the fundamentals of the market. Prices are clearly headed lower from here.”
Crude oil for August delivery fell 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $59.89 a barrel at 10:33 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have declined 16 percent over the past seven days, the longest stretch since September 2006.
Brent crude for August settlement rose 11 cents to $60.54 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. Yesterday, the contract declined $2.80, or 4.4 percent, to $60.43, the lowest settlement since May 25.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at [email protected]
Last Updated: July 9, 2009 10:35 EDT
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Mark Shenk
July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell below $60 a barrel for the first time since May 26 after reports showed that U.S. fuel inventories increased as the recession curbed consumption.
Stockpiles of gasoline and distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, rose last week, an Energy Department report showed yesterday. Total daily fuel demand in the past four weeks dropped 5.9 percent from a year earlier to average 18.4 million barrels, the Energy Department said.
“The momentum is clearly in favor of the bears,” said John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy at MF Global in New York. “This is a reality check for all of those who ignored the fundamentals of the market. Prices are clearly headed lower from here.”
Crude oil for August delivery fell 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $59.89 a barrel at 10:33 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have declined 16 percent over the past seven days, the longest stretch since September 2006.
Brent crude for August settlement rose 11 cents to $60.54 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. Yesterday, the contract declined $2.80, or 4.4 percent, to $60.43, the lowest settlement since May 25.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at [email protected]
Last Updated: July 9, 2009 10:35 EDT
