NYMEX crude opens 99 cents lower, lacking fresh bullish headlines

New York (Platts)--17Aug2006

September crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange opened 99
cents lower at $70.90/barrel Thursday, lacking fresh bullish headlines to keep
prices propped up.

"Attaching a news headline to a sharp price downdraft as is currently
evolving, is difficult because big price declines in a speculative driven
market are usually forced by lack of news as opposed to fresh developments,"
energy consultant Jim Ritterbusch said in a report.

"During the past three days, the price decline has mainly represented an
unwinding of speculative length as lack of bullish headlines has prompted
major long liquidation, especially out of crude oil."

The selloff actually kicked off late last week when Goldman Sachs opted
to reduce the weighting of gasoline in its commodity index, causing gasoline
futures to lose upside leadership status.

September unleaded gasoline opened 4.81 cents lower at $1.93/gal, causing
losses to add up to nearly 25 cents/gal in the past week. September heating
oil opened 2.69 cents lower at $1.9900/gal.

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafield@platts.com

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