By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Mar. 13 -- Oil futures prices declined Tuesday after the International Energy Agency expressed caution about the current condition of the projected US economic recovery and downgraded its demand forecast.
However, IEA remained more optimistic about the US economic outlook in the second half of this year. And an unexpectedly bullish report on US petroleum inventories, released by the American Petroleum Institute after the close of trading Tuesday, indicated to some traders a faster recovery for the US economy and increased demand for both gasoline and airline fuel.
The April contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes dipped 11¢ to $24.20/bbl Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the May position was down 9¢ to $24.55/bbl. But in after-hours electronic trading, both contracts rebounded to $24.55/bbl and $24.89/bbl, respectively, on the strength of the API report.
The API said US distillate fuel stocks, including heating oil, fell by 6.6 million bbl to a total 128.4 million bbl last week. US gasoline inventories also dropped, 3.4 million bbl to 209.6 million bbl total, while US crude stocks were down 443,000 bbl to 319.5 million bbl.
In regular trading on NYMEX, heating oil for April delivery inched up 0.04¢ to 63.49¢/gal. However, unleaded gasoline for the same month lost 0.56¢ to 78.54¢/gal, while the April natural gas contract slipped 0.3¢ to $3.02/Mcf, after climbing above $3/Mcf Monday for the first time in some months.
In London, the April contract for North Sea Brent oil dropped 19¢ to $23.70/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. However, the April natural gas contract inched up 0.58¢ to the equivalent of $2.22/Mcf on IPE.
The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of seven benchmark crudes lost 8¢ to $22.36/bbl Tuesday after moving back into the group's targeted price range of $22-$28/bbl Monday for the first time in nearly 6 months (OGJ Online, Mar. 12, 2002). OPEC's basket price broke through the floor of that target Sept. 24, 2001, for the first time in that year and had remained below that level until Monday.
Tuesday in Vienna, Alí Rodríguez Araque, OPEC secretary general, hailed decisions by Norway, Mexico, and Oman to extend their current oil output restrictions into the second quarter. Russia is expected to announce before the end of this month whether it also will continue to curb its oil exports.
OPEC ministers are scheduled to meet Friday in Vienna to review market developments resulting from their December decision to reduce oil production quotas for member nations through the first 6 months of this year.
