Market Watch: Energy futures prices slump on market nervousness, inventories
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 15 -- Energy futures prices fell Wednesday, a drop analysts attributed to nervousness regarding crude oil fundamentals and also to weekly reports that showed rising product inventories.
The June contract price had risen more than 20% in the last week, which some analysts said was too fast of an increase without any support from fundamentals.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy late Wednesday reported a gasoline inventory build of 3 million bbl and a 1 million build in distillates. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a gasoline build of 2 million bbl and a 1.6 million bbl gain in distillates.
However, US crude stocks fell last week. The DOE reported a decline of 4.2 million bbl while the API reported the decline at 7.38 million bbl.
The June contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes declined by $1.21 to $28.15/bbl while the July contract dropped by $1.19 to $27.21/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June contract climbed 1¢ while the July contract dropped 1¢ in after-hours electronic trading.
During Wednesday's regular trading session on NYMEX, unleaded gasoline for June delivery declined 3.81¢ to 78.82¢/gal. Heating oil was down 3.89¢ to 67.79¢/gal. The June natural gas contract slumped 21.5¢ to $3.64/Mcf.
In London, the June contract for North Sea Brent oil dropped $1.14 to $26.17/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. The June natural gas contract fell 5¢ to the equivalent of $1.69/Mcf on the IPE.
The average price for OPEC's basket of seven crudes dropped by 99¢ to $25.45/bbl Wednesday.