Wednesday January 14, 2009
Navivest

Crude oil futures prices continued falling on Wednesday, after a Department of Energy report showed that crude inventories rose by 1.2 million barrels for the week ending January 9, to 326.6 million barrels.

While the increase in stock was less than expected, forecasters had been looking for inventories to rise by 2.5 million barrels, the 326.6 million barrels inventory is 13.1% higher than in the same period last year.

Gasoline inventories meanwhile, rose by 2.1 million barrels to 213.5 million barrels, 3.6% below inventory quantities in the same period a year ago.

According to the energy department, the demand for gasoline over the four weeks that ended January 9 was 2.1% lower than in the same period a year ago, with an average consumption of 8.9 million barrels daily.

On the inventory numbers, crude oil fell for a second straight day, losing $1.02, to close at 36.26 in electronic trading on concerns that demand continues to weaken.

We may see further declines in the coming days, as there are rumors of a possible cease fire between Israel and Hamas in the works.

Tags: Crude Oil  Oil Prices  Gasoline Demand