Oil futures dropped May 22 with light, sweet crude contracts for July and August settling down by more than $1.70/bbl each on the New York market, marking the biggest single-session loss in nearly 3 weeks.
The drop came after a US government inventory report showed a build in weekly crude supplies.
Brent crude oil prices also dropped more than a $1/bbl on the London market with the July contract settling at nearly $71/bbl on May 22.
The front-month contracts for both crude benchmarks settled at their lowest prices since May 13.
The US Energy Information Administration said commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased by 4.7 million bbl for the week ended May 17, to 476.8 million bbl.
US oil supplies are about 4% above the 5-year average for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.7 million bbl for the week ended May 17, putting them at the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report said.
Energy prices
Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange for July fell $1.71/bbl to settle at $61.42 on May 22 while the August contract also dipped by $1.71 to settle at $61.50.
NYMEX natural gas for June dropped 7¢ to settle at $2.54/MMbtu.
Ultralow-sulfur diesel for June declined 3¢ to a rounded $2.05/gal. The NYMEX reformulated gasoline blendstock for June dropped nearly 3¢ to a rounded $1.99/gal.
Brent crude for July was down by $1.19 to $70.99/bbl. The August price decreased $1.32 to settle at $69.99/bbl.
The gas oil contract for June fell $12.50 to $632.50/tonne on May 22. The average for OPEC’s basket of crudes was $71.03/bbl on May 22, down 68¢.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected]
