Nymex Overview: Petroleum Futures Losses Accelerate — OPIS

Petroleum futures contracts were seeing losses accelerate despite the release of inventory data showing declines in crude-oil and refined product stockpiles last week.

Oil prices were down by more than $1/bbl on Wednesday. The November West Texas Intermediate crude contract fell by $1.40 to $70.16/bbl. December prices were down by $1.26 to $69.58/bbl.

Brent crude was seeing similar losses, with the November contract sinking by $1.40 to $73.77/bbl and December prices $1.22 weaker to $73.25/bbl.

Gasoline futures were seeing steeper losses. The October RBOB contract was 3.43cts in the red to $1.9954/gal and November prices shed 3.39cts to $1.9716/gal.

October ULSD was 1.33cts lower to $2.1672/gal while November prices were off by 1.35cts to $2.1856/gal.

The declines put energy contracts on track for their third day of losses in the past four sessions.

The declines come despite data released by the Energy Information Administration showing a 4.5 million-bbl decline in U.S. crude inventories in the week ending Friday. U.S. crude stockpiles, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, now stand at 413 million bbl, about 5% below seasonal averages.

EIA also reported a 1.5 million-bbl drop in U.S. gasoline inventories and a 2.2 million-bbl decrease in distillate supplies. Gasoline inventories are 1% below the five-year average while distillate inventories are 9% below seasonal averages.

The decline in refined product stocks comes as U.S. refinery utilization fell by more than a percentage point to 90.9% while implied gasoline demand rose by more than 400,000 bbl to average 9.205 million b/d in the last week, a level also well above those seen in the same week last year and in 2022.

Distillate demand rose by more than 200,000 bbl to 4.022 million b/d, also outstripping last-year levels but slightly below those seen at this time in 2022.

Pessimism about growth in the Chinese economy and its impact on energy demand continue to weigh on markets. Although prices had risen earlier this week following word of new stimulus measures in that country, optimism was apparently waning Wednesday.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

-- Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 25, 2024 13:15 ET (17:15 GMT)

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