WTI oil price slips back under $88 ahead of US oil data

8 February 2011 8 February 2011

BonTrade

WTI oil prices open today’s trading session back under $88 a barrel as this week’s US oil inventory data is expected to remain positive, with the US well supplied.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for March 2011 delivery was trading at $87.50 a barrel, 07.40 GMT this morning on the NYMEX.

Weekly WTI Oil Inventories

On the data front, investors were eyeing weekly inventory reports from the US today and tomorrow for trading cues.

The average WTI crude oil stockpile in the US are forecasted up again by around 2.5 million barrels for the week ended 4th February as refiners continued to rebuild oil supplies after drawing on inventories during much of December, a survey showed.

US crude oil stocks were expected to be beefed up by another increase in oil stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for crude oil futures traded on the NYMEX.

If so, that would post a new peak at the hub, after stocks there rose 667,000 barrels to a record 38.33 million barrels in the week to 28th January, based on data from the US EIA (Energy Information Administration).

“There’s pressure for crude oil prices to go down. Fundamentally, I don’t think crude oil supplies are tight. The market needs a correction, and now is the time. WTI should come down to $85 a barrel this month, while the spread between WTI and Brent will likely be around $10.” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity manager at Japan’s Newedge brokerage.