Oil: an overview of the market situation

WTI oil price rose today , while reaching a one-month high as a government report pointed to the decline in U.S. oil inventories for the previous week . As for oil Brent, then a rise in prices helps the tense situation in Libya.

Department of Energy data on changes in stocks in the week 12-18 May showed

- Oil reserves decreased by 7,226 million barrels to 391.297 million barrels ;

- Gasoline inventories rose by 0.97 million barrels . to 213.378 million barrels . ;

- Distillate stocks rose by 3.339 million barrels . to 116.277 million barrels .

- Refining capacity utilization rate of 88.7 % against 88.8 % a week earlier ;

- Oil terminal in Cushing fell by 0.25 million barrels . to 23,216 million barrels .

"Increasing production of shale oil in the United States a million barrels a year restrains the growth of the market in terms of geopolitical uncertainty and is the main reason that oil prices have not grown even stronger," - said the risk manager in the oil market Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo Tony Noonan .

We also recall that yesterday its reserves data published Petroleum Institute API. They showed :

- Capacity utilization in the week 90.3 % vs. 89.1 %

- Distillate stocks last week 1.4 million barrels

- Gasoline inventories last week 0.135 million barrels

- Crude oil inventories -10.3 million barrels

Regarding the situation in Libya, it is worth noting that on the eve of Tripoli fighting began again , and two days earlier , armed men seized the parliament and demanded Libya stop his work . The authorities offered to hold national elections in June to resolve the crisis , which arose because of the political struggle between different factions . Production at the Libyan oilfields El Feel and El Shahara has not begun within a week after the government agreed with the rebels who occupied the field of their discovery and production of oil in the country is 200 thousand barrels per day , compared with 1.4 million last year.

The cost of the July futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to $ 103.61 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

July futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose 83 cents to $ 110.55 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.