What's Moving the Oil Markets?
•IPE Brent futures in London extended losses Thursday,
falling over a dollar earlier after Iraq's prime minister announced the death of
Iraq's al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in an airstrike. Earlier Thursday,
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that al-Zarqawi had been killed in
an airstrike outside the Iraqi city of Baquba. "The market is using the killing
of al-Zarqawi as an excuse to sell out of the market. If this was a bullish
market then that news wouldn't have had any impact on prices," a London-based
broker said.
•Brokers believe that the market has been looking for a reason to take a
breather and come off the prices above the $70/barrel mark. Market players feel
that the $67.50/barrel level for WTI crude futures is the critical support level
dictating where prices will go.
•- The EIA reported a 1.1 million barrel build in crude stocks to 346.6 million
barrels, in contrast to expectations for a 400,000 barrel draw. At this level
crude stocks are "well above" the upper end of the average range for this time
of year, EIA said in its weekly report. The API showed 348,000 barrel rise.
Copyright © 2005 - Platts
Please visit: www.platts.com
Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.