Oil and refined products futures prices fell in trading Wednesday but have recovered this morning as a result of a report indicating US stocks of crude and gasoline fell last week.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.34/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, settling at $29.01. July gasoline fell 2.94�/gal to end the day at 97.55�, while July heating oil was down 2.52�/gal to 72.33�. Henry Hub natural gas for July delivery settled at $4.356/MMbtu, up 0.2� on the day.
After market closing Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute's weekly stock figures showed US oil stocks had fallen 1.7 million bbl last week to 302.6 million bbl, while motor gasoline stocks had declined 2.2 million bbl.
As a result, the NYMEX oil price had rebounded to $29.52 by late morning Thursday, while gasoline was trading at 98.7�/gal in New York. The heating oil contract was trading at 74.20�/gal, while July-delivery natural gas had fallen slightly, to $4.27/MMbtu.
In London trading, July-delivery Brent settled at $28.31/bbl Wednesday, down 65�. It also rallied in early trading Thursday, rising to $28.80.
