Market watch: Oil prices fall as US inventory climbs

Oil futures prices fell in international markets Wednesday with reports of a build-up of US crude inventories. The December contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes lost 67¢ to $21.18/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Nov. 1, 2001

2 min read

By the OGJ Online Staff

HOUSTON, Nov. 1 -- Oil futures prices fell in international markets Wednesday with reports of a build-up of US crude inventories.

The Department of Energy reported early Wednesday a jump of 2.5 million bbl in US oil inventories last week. That followed a report by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday that US crude stocks increased by 884,000 bbl during the same period with a rise in imports.

Those reports stoked traders' fears of surplus oil supplies in a diminishing market and triggered a sell-off of energy futures. The price of near-month oil futures was down more than $1/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange at one point, activating automatic sales orders as it fell. But it recovered some from bargain buyers later in the day.

The December contract for benchmark US light, sweet crudes settled at $21.18 bbl Wednesday, down 69¢ for the day on the NYMEX. The January contract dropped 67¢ to $21.32/bbl.

Home heating oil for November delivery plummeted 2.21¢ to 59.79¢/gal, while unleaded gasoline for the same month dropped 1.67¢ to 55.23¢/gal.

However, the December natural gas contract gained 10.8¢ to $3.29/Mcf.

In London, the December contract for North Sea Brent crude lost 54¢ to $20.37/bbl on the International Petroleum Exchange. The December natural gas contract inched up 1.2¢ to $3.29/Mcf on the IPE, the same price as the later finish for NYMEX gas.