Oil: an overview of the market situation

Prices for WTI crude oil declined moderately , after a government report showed that U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected last week. In addition, the fall in prices was due to speculation that the Federal Reserve today announced reduction of the volume of economic incentives. The cost of oil brand Brent, meanwhile, rose slightly .

According to the Department of Energy on changes in stocks in the U.S. for the week January 20-26 :

- Crude oil inventories in the U.S. 6.421 million barrels to 357.645 million barrels

- Stocks of gasoline in the U.S. -0,819,000 barrels to 234.446 million barrels

- Distillate stocks in the U.S. -4,584,000 barrels to 116.154 million barrels

- In the U.S. refinery utilization to 88.2 % against 86.5 % a week earlier

Many experts expect that oil will rise significantly less , namely 2.25 million also predicted that distillate stocks fall to 2.55 million , while gasoline inventories rise by 1.6 million barrels .

"Inventories of crude oil rising, which indicates a weak fundamental picture ," said Gene McGillian , an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford . " There are fears that the reduction of QE by the Fed can affect economic growth ."

We also recall that yesterday its reserves data voiced Institute of oil API. They showed :

- Oil reserves for the week 4.7 million barrels

- Distillate stocks last week 1.8 million barrels

- Gasoline inventories last week 0.363 million barrels

- Capacity utilization in the week 88.3% against 87.9 %

With regard to the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee Federal Reserve , most analysts believe that will be announced reductions of the QE program by 10 billion - to $ 65 billion per month .

Meanwhile, adding that a further fall in prices was capped yield positive data in Germany. According to research by analyst firm Gfk, outpacing the consumer confidence index in Germany in February rose to 8.2 points from 7.7 points in January . The index has exceeded the expectations of analysts, forecast figure of 7.8 points.

March futures price for U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to $ 97.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

March futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose 34 cents to $ 107.78 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.