MW:Crude futures fall on talk of joint oil release
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures fell Wednesday amid reports of a possible coordinated oil release by France, the U.S. and the U.K., and as the market awaited a weekly update on U.S. oil inventories.
Crude for April delivery CLK2 -0.93% fell 92 cents, or 0.9%, to $106.42 a barrel.
French Energy Minister Eric Besson told reporters in Paris that the U.S. has asked for coordinated move between the U.S., the U.K. and France for an emergency release of oil stocks, according to the Financial Times. He said France is “favorable” to the suggestion, the newspaper said.
“We are waiting now for the conclusions of the International Energy Agency,” said Besson, according to the report.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal quoted a senior European diplomat Tuesday as saying that Iran will meet April 14 in Istanbul with the five permanent United Nations Security Council members plus Germany for talks on its nuclear program. Worries about a prospective confrontation between the West and Iran have driven oil prices higher in recent weeks.
Supply reports were also in focus for the energy market. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels in the week ended March 23, while gasoline supplies increased 1.3 million barrels and inventories of distillates fell 1.4 million barrels.
Still to come on Wednesday is the more authoritative report from the Energy Information Administration. Analysts polled by Platts are predicting an increase in crude stockpiles of 2.75 million barrels on the week, along with drawdowns for gasoline and distillates of 1.5 million barrels and 1 million barrels, respectively.
Natural gas for April delivery NGJ12 -1.75% NGJ12 fell 2 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.19 per million British thermal units. The contract closed at $2.21 on Tuesday, its lowest settlement since February 2002 amid signs of strong inventories for the fuel.
April gasoline RBJ2 -1.53% , meanwhile, retreated 4 cents, or 1.2%, to $3.37 a gallon, as April heating oil HOJ2 -0.91% declined 2 cents, or 0.6%, at $3.20 a gallon.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.
