As the US strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) approaches capacity (721.5 million barrels filled out of a total possible 727 million, and will be filled by January 2010), the federal government will fade out of the oil-buying business. Some bearish traders believe that this factor can weigh in on prices, since most petroleum stocks in the United States are government-held rather than private. Bullish traders have also used the filling of the Chinese SPR as a reason that oil should go much higher.

The team at Casey’s Energy Opportunities believe that planned government buying or selling of crude oil for SPRs actually have very little impact in the overall market. However, an overall drawdown of worldwide inventory could put downward pressure on the price of oil. The various countries also have their particular reasons and influences in decisions to tap their reserves.

So which countries are executing preparedness plans to fill their strategic

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Oil prices fell below $69 a barrel on Tuesday as economic concerns sent investors into safer havens, outweighing positive U.S. manufacturing and home sales data.

U.S. crude for October delivery fell $1.39 to $68.57 a barrel by 1:32 p.m. EDT (1732 GMT).

London Brent crude dropped $1.38 to $68.27.

U.S. stocks dropped as investors’ confidence in the economic recovery wavered.

“The dollar is strengthening and equities are coming off hard so (oil futures) did the same,” said Tom Knight, trader at Truman Arnold in Texarkana, Texas.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar rose as the slide in the U.S. stocks boosted the currency’s safe-haven appeal.

Oil futures had risen earlier in the day as the market focused on a report showing a jump in U.S. manufacturing and pending home sales.

“It looks like the whole complex is failing to sustain the gains … basically, the market’s not done yet on the downside,” said Tom Bentz, senior commodity analyst, BNP Paribas Commodity

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European shares slipped back from a 10-month closing high on Wednesday, as investors took profits, even as German and U.S. economic data continued to point to recovery.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares fell 0.5 percent to close at 973.92 points, breaking a four-day winning streak, and having hit its highest close since early October on Tuesday.

The European benchmark index is still up 50.9 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects of recovery.

“The market has come a long way, and the economics are still supportive,” said Georgina Taylor, equity strategist, Legal & General Investment Management.

“We’re just seeing a little profit taking. Nothing has been derailed. Housing data is improving. The only area of concern is consumer spending.”

Energy companies were the biggest drag on the index, with crude prices down more than 1 percent to just above $71 a barrel,

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Oil fell to near $71 a barrel on Wednesday, extending hefty losses from the previous session, as rising stockpiles of U.S. crude outweighed positive economic data.

U.S. crude for October fell 79 cents to $71.26 a barrel by 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 GMT), after falling $2.32 on Tuesday. Brent crude fell 49 cents to $71.33 a barrel after losing $2.44 the previous day.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, reported on Wednesday that crude stocks in the world’s largest energy consumer rose by 200,000 barrels last week.

While the build in crude stocks was nowhere near as large as the 4.3 million rise reported by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday, it still confounded initial market predictions for a 1.1 million barrel drop.

“We remain in a situation of massive over-supply, which is off the charts, but it does appear to be peaking,” Summit Energy analyst Brad Samples

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World stocks slid on Wednesday after a mixed report on U.S. durable goods orders reignited doubts about economic recovery while oil prices fell on news of rising U.S. crude stockpiles.

The U.S. dollar gained, retracing the week’s losses, as the durables goods report for July eroded risk appetite and prompted investors to seek shelter in the safe-haven greenback.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods registered the biggest advance since July 2007, but excluding transportation goods, orders for durables were slightly below expectations.

Slippage among global stocks that climbed to 10-month highs this week boosted money flows into less risky assets, such as European government bonds, which also gained from some modest month-end buying, traders said.

Economic data in Europe showed further signs of recovery, as did a report showing U.S. new home sales jumped in July to their fastest pace in 10 months.

But a key measure of U.S. business demand — nondefense capital goods, excluding

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Oil has taken Wall Street on a roller coaster ride in the past week. The ride started with oil rising towards $72 ahead of inventory data and then falling below $71 after inventory data.

Oil fell toward $70 a barrel on Wednesday morning amidst U.S. government inventory data showing a build in crude stocks and weak economic data that raised concerns and doubts about oil demand recovery in the world’s largest energy consumer.

As example of these doubts was shown in U.S. light, sweet crude which fell 81 cents to $70.61 a barrel early in the day giving away some of the gains that helped oil rise 13 percent since last week.

U.S. crude inventories had a sharp rise last week which surprised many experts on Wall Street. According to weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was released on Wednesday, refinery runs eased while distillate stocks

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Oil fell below $65 a barrel on Wednesday, curbing a week of gains after data showing an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stocks suggested demand in the world’s top energy consumer was still weak.

The market awaited U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data due at 1430 GMT to see if they would confirm the trend from Tuesday’s American Petroleum Institute (API) figures.

U.S. crude oil for September delivery was down 90 cents at $64.71 a barrel by 1407 GMT, having fallen to a low of $63.76. London Brent crude for September lost 50 cents to $66.37.

The fall followed five days of rises that had pushed U.S. crude oil futures up more than 10 percent in just a week.

“The market has exhausted itself and needs to pause,” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said in a research note. “Today, all attention will be on the weekly U.S. fuel inventories.”

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly

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Oil prices slipped on Thursday as concerns about weak global fuel demand outweighed strong economic growth in China and better-than-expected U.S. banking results.

U.S. crude oil for August delivery fell 49 cents to $61.05 a barrel by 1745 GMT after hitting a low of $60.29 a barrel. London Brent crude slipped 43 cents to $62.66 ahead of the August contract’s expiry later on Thursday.

The losses come amid lingering worries about global energy demand, contracting for the first time in a quarter century under the weight of the economic recession.

The global slowdown has cut world oil demand by as much as 2.5 million barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency.

Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois, added that recent government data showing increases in U.S. refined fuel supplies added to bearish sentiment in the oil market.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that gasoline and distillate supplies rose

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Oil prices fell more than 1 percent to $63 a barrel today, Tuesday, as growing uncertainty over an economic recovery spurred investor risk aversion.  A member of U.S. President Barack Obama’s economic advisory panel said the world’s top oil consumer should plan to possibly provide a second round of stimulus funds to prop up the economy, implying that recovery is still far off.

U.S. crude futures traded down $1.01 to $63.04 a barrel by 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT) as investors sought safer havens. London Brent crude fell 74 cents to $63.31 a barrel.

“The worries are that the pace of the economic recovery hasn’t materialized the way that people who plunged into the commodity markets thought, and now they are running for the exits,” said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The question is how far they will run.”

Safe-haven currencies such as the dollar gained on the concerns about

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Petrobras (PBR), the Brazilian state-run oil giant, yesterday announced its plans to form a joint venture with Vale (VALE), Brazil's biggest aluminum producer, to explore natural gas and oil. According to the agreement, VALE will help Petrobras beat potash deposits in the Amazon, and VALE will receive cost-effective natural gas to produce the metal.Additionally, PBR through its subsidiary, Petrobras Energía, has recently erected a new power generation unit in Argentina in order to meet the increasing industrial demand for power in Argentina.Based on the increase in the number of projects, the company estimates an investment of US$ 174.4 billion during 2009-2013. Thus, PBR raised US$32.5 billion in credit in Brazil and abroad, out of which the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) financed US$12.5 billion, and the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) financed US$ 10 billion repayable over 10 years.US ...