WTI oil trading at $78 a barrel as US crude stocks weaken

5 October 2011 5 October 2011

SondraHunter

WTI oil futures open Wednesday’s trading session back around $78 a barrel after gaining 2.8 percent yesterday, boosted by weaker US crude oil stocks data from the US American Petroleum Institute.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for November 2011 delivery was trading at $78.11 a barrel, 07.50 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX.

US Oil Stocks

Crude inventories dropped 3.1 million barrels last week, according to the US API (American Petroleum Institute), however a US Energy Department report today is forecast to show a gain of 1.5 million barrels.

The API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of US refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines.

Oil prices also saw gains after the US stock market made a recovery late on Tuesday. The US Dow Jones industrial average closed yesterday’s session at 10,808.71, up 153.41 points, or 1.4 percent.

“We saw a natural rebound in the market coming from the European situation and the better stock market and that just followed through to the crude market.” said Ken Hasegawa, energy trading manager at broker Newedge, Japan.

“Oil prices remain under the sway of macroeconomic sentiment.” said strategists at Barclays Capital.

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