What's Moving the Oil Markets?

What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•IPE Brent futures in London continued to firm steadily Thursday as the market digested the US inventory data which came out Wednesday, sources said.

•"Despite the price edging upwards there is actually very little movement in the flat price. The moves have mainly been due to a tightening of the August-September inter-month spread, where early this morning it was around minus 50 cents/barrel but has come in to minus 40 cents/barrel or so," one London-based broker said.

•There is no fundamental reason for the tightening of the spreads, traders said, but some market players noted that the US crude and product stock data released by the American Petroleum Institute and Energy Information Administration was acted upon further after an initial period of reflection.

•On Wednesday, the EIA reported a fall in US commercial crude stocks of 3.4 million barrels, more than the projected 1.4 million barrels. The API showed a decline of 1.5 million barrels.

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