NYMEX crude drops, then rallies off weekly oil data

New York (Platts)--24May2006

July crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.16/barrel
to an intra-day low of $70.60/barrel Wednesday before trading back above
$71/barrel, following the release of the weekly petroleum inventory data.

The Energy Information Administration reported a 3 million barrel draw in
US commercial crude inventories, higher than the 1.4 million barrel drop
analysts had projected and the 1.2 million decline reported by the American
Petroleum Institute.

The EIA reported a 2.1 million increase in gasoline inventories, higher
than the 1.6 million barrel build analysts had projected, but less than the
4.3 million barrel rise API reported. June unleaded gasoline fell 5.3 cents to
an intra-day low of $2.055/gallon.

The EIA also reported a 2.5 million barrel build in distillates, higher
than the 800,000 barrel increase analysts had anticipated and the 1.2 million
barrel jump reported by the API. June heating oil dropped 4.39 cents to an
intra-day low of $1.9550/gal.

Refinery utilization edged down 0.1% to 89.7%, according to the EIA, in
contrast to expectations for an increase of 0.7%.

--Linda Rafield, linda_rafields@platts.com

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