MARKET WATCH: Oil price continues climb, but at slower pace

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 24 -- The June futures contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes closed Apr. 23 at $118.30/bbl, up 23¢, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The day before, the expiring May contract touched $119.90/bbl before closing at $119.37/bbl.

Trading volumes were light on Apr. 23 as traders and markets awaited weekly US inventory reports from the US Energy Information Administration, which reported an unexpected gain in oil stocks and a decline in gasoline and distillate supplies.

At the pump, gasoline prices rose more than 2¢ overnight to a record national average of $3.53/gal on Apr. 23, according to the American Automobile Association and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail diesel prices set a record of $4.21/gal, AAA and OPIS said.

For the week ended Apr. 18, oil inventories rose 2.4 million bbl to 316.1 million bbl. The gain ended five consecutive weeks of declines, EIA said. Oil inventories showed a decline of 2.3 million bbl for the week ended Apr. 11.

Gasoline inventories fell by 3.2 million bbl, to 212.6 million bbl. US refineries operated at 85.6% of total capacity, up from 81.4% for the week ended Apr. 11. Distillate inventories fell by 1.4 million bbl to 104.7 million bbl for the week ended Apr. 18.

Energy prices
The July NYMEX contract for benchmark US sweet, light crudes gained 33¢ to $117.59/bbl. On the US spot market, West Texas Intermediate at Cushing, Okla., held at $119.38/bbl, unchanged from the previous day.

Heating oil for May closed at $3.325/gal on NYMEX, up 0.81¢. The May contract for reformulated blend stock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) closed at $3.05/gal, up 3.4¢ for the day.

The May natural gas contract closed at $10.78/MMbtu, up 17.4¢ on NYMEX. On the US spot market, gas at Henry Hub, La., gained 18.5¢ to $10.385/MMbtu.

In London, the June IPE contract for North Sea Brent crude settled at $116.46/bbl, up 51¢. The May gas oil contract closed at $1,068.25/tonne, down 25¢ for the day.

The average price for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' basket of 13 reference crudes advanced by $1.22 to $111.14/bbl on Apr. 23.