Oil: an overview of the market situation

Prices for WTI crude oil rose today , offsetting losses the previous session, while Brent oil price fell , which was associated with an additional increase in Libyan oil supplies and expectations that Iranian oil will return to the market.

It should be noted that caution bidders reinforce expectations data on wholesale inventories of oil in the United States. According to analysts , the oil reserves in the country for the week ending January 10 fell by 1.15 million barrels. Stocks of distillates , including fuel oil and diesel , last week could grow by 1.38 million barrels, while gasoline stocks could increase by 2.2 million barrels . Recall that later today its assessment of reserves present American Petroleum Institute (API).

On the dynamics of trade also affected the U.S. data , which showed that U.S. retail sales rose slightly in December , despite a large decline in car sales . This is a sign that consumers were willing to spend a bit more on other goods during the end of the Christmas season sales. Overall retail sales rose 0.2 % last month . Economists predicted a similar increase . Car sales fell 1.8 % , pulling down the broader indicators . For the automotive industry, this was a record year , and the slowdown in December is considered more a reflection of poor weather conditions and calendar amendments than the beginning of a new trend. Excluding autos, retail sales of December rose by 0.7%. Value of retail sales for previous months were revised down to an increase of 0.5 % in October and in November, rising by 0.4%.

Prices also affects the information that the Federal Reserve is ready to take the preliminary steps to limit banks' operations with raw materials on the background of attention of Congress.

The Federal Reserve plans to issue a notice seeking information on ways containment property and trade in certain goods banks as Central Bank is trying to reduce the risk of deposit banks , said the people , who requested anonymity . Regulators and legislators argue that commodity assets can lead to catastrophic losses , collapses and rescue by the state.

February futures price of U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to $ 92.11 per barrel.

February futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture fell 6 cents to $ 106.38 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.