DTN Oil Update
WTI at $59 on Sizable US Crude Stock Build
VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil futures fell for a third consecutive trading day Wednesday, Nov. 5, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a sizable build to commercial crude oil inventories. The declines caused crude benchmarks to close below levels key to market bulls.
The NYMEX WTI contract for December delivery settled down $0.96 at $59.60 bbl, under the $60 mark for the first time in two weeks. ICE Brent for January delivery slid $0.99 to $63.45 bbl, entrenching its position below the key $65 level.
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Downstream, the December RBOB gasoline futures retreated $0.0133 to $1.9095 gallon, while the front-month ULSD futures fell $0.0119 to $2.4327 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index edged higher by 0.005 points to 100.075 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Commercial crude oil inventories expanded by 5.2 million bbl in the week ending Oct. 31, according to EIA data released Wednesday. Stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, tank farm, the delivery point for WTI futures, grew by 300,000 bbl.
The American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported that commercial U.S. crude oil inventories grew by 6.5 million bbls last week.
The EIA's reported that gasoline inventories fell 4.7 million bbl on the week to 206 million bbl, but that provided little support to prices.
Distillate fuel oil inventories shrank by 600,000 bbl to 111.5 million bbl, posting a smaller draw than API's estimate of 2.5 million bbl.
Weak macroeconomic data from the U.S. and China have continued to fan demand concerns over oil in recent days, while a rally in the U.S. Dollar Index added to further pressure.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week suggested that the central bank could skip a much-anticipated 25-basis point cut in December, pushing the U.S. Dollar Index to settle above 100 points for the first time since May.
The Caixin manufacturing PMI, meanwhile, showed factory activity in China slowing for the seventh consecutive month in October. On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management reported the U.S. manufacturing PMI slipping to 48.7 in October, the eight consecutive monthly reading in contraction territory.