Light oil price trading over $86 on surprise US supply drop

14 April 2010 14 April 2010

BonTrade

Oil prices gained well over two percent in a heavy market trading session today as US Light oil futures jump through $86 a barrel mark on the NYMEX after news that crude oil supplies fell unexpectedly last week.

US Light crude oil futures are currently trading at $86.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The EEIAn said that US oil supplies dropped by 2.2 million barrels for the week ended April 9th 2010. Analysts expected oil supplies to increase by 1.6 million barrels, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. It’s the first weekly decline since January 2010.

US oil supply usually grows at this time of year as refineries slow fuel production and prepare their equipment to make summer grades of gasoline that contribute less to air pollution. The drop in last week’s inventories was unexpected, and it’s unlikely to continue falling, analyst Stephen Schork said. Before Wednesday’s report, crude supplies had grown for nine straight weeks.