Oil prices have weakened as fears of further economic turmoil and burgeoning inventories hang over the market
DESPITE retaining their place close to Opec's $75/b target, oil prices have weakened in recent weeks as fears of further economic turmoil and burgeoning inventories continue to hang over the market.
On 23 September, the front-month light sweet crude oil contract in New York was trading at just over $74/b, well down from highs above $78/b seen earlier in the month. US stocks are feeding the bears: for the week ending 17 September, the Department of Energy reported that crude inventories had risen by 1m barrels to 358.3m barrels. That's high by historical measures and almost 23m barrels more than in the same week of last year.
US refined products inventories also remain high: gasoline stocks grew by 1.6m barrels to 226.1m barrels; and distillates inventories now sit at 174.9m barrels, 4.1m barrels higher than in the same week a year ago.
