Oil: an overview of the market situation

The cost of oil futures declined substantially, falling at the same time below $ 104 per barrel, which was due to fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve may curtail its program of quantitative easing. Note that the comments by the Fed and upbeat U.S. data, which were presented last week, increasing the likelihood that the central bank may begin to reduce the purchase of bonds later this year. It is also worth adding that many investors are focusing on the release of minutes of the last Fed meeting and speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, scheduled on Wednesday.

Analysts expect U.S. crude stocks last week, have not changed, and the Refinery utilization fell. Gasoline stocks are expected on average, declined by 100,000 barrels.

Distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, as the average forecast down 300,000 barrels. Congestion of refining capacity in the U.S. last week, according to the median estimate, down 0.2 percentage points to 87.8%.

Note also that part of the price of oil supports the tense situation in the Middle East, which has raised concerns about the security of supply of the largest producers in the region.

The cost of the June futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to 95.80 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

June futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture fell $ 0.82 to $ 103.92 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.