Crude Oil Drops More Than $2.50 a Barrel on Surging U.S. Supply

April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil plunged more than $2.50 a barrel in New York, the biggest decline in three months, on speculation that an Energy Department report will show U.S. inventories jumped last week as refiners unexpectedly shut units.
Crude-oil supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, where oil traded in New York is delivered, surged 12 percent in the week ended March 30, Energy Department figures show. Fires and power outages have forced refiners to shut units, reducing crude-oil demand. Oil prices also fell because release of British naval personnel on April 5 eased concern of a supply disruption in the Persian Gulf.
``Crude oil is pulling everything lower,'' said James Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois. ``It looks like we will see record inventories in Cushing this week because of all of the refinery outages.''
Crude oil for May delivery fell $2.77, or 4.3 percent, to $61.51 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract is heading for the biggest one-day decline since Jan. 4. Futures touched $68.09 a barrel on March 27, the highest since Sept. 6. Prices are down 8.7 percent from a year ago.
Gasoline for May delivery in New York declined 3.86 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $2.0902 a gallon. Prices surged as high as $2.155 a gallon in early trading, the highest intraday price since Aug. 10.
An Energy Department report on April 11 is expected to show that U.S. crude-oil supplies rose last week as inventories of gasoline and distillate fuel fell, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Gasoline inventories plunged 9.7 percent to 205.2 million barrels in the eight weeks ended March 30, according to the department. April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil plunged more than $2.50 a barrel in New York, the biggest decline in three months, on speculation that an Energy Department report will show U.S. inventories jumped last week as refiners unexpectedly shut units.
Crude-oil supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, where oil traded in New York is delivered, surged 12 percent in the week ended March 30, Energy Department figures show. Fires and power outages have forced refiners to shut units, reducing crude-oil demand. Oil prices also fell because release of British naval personnel on April 5 eased concern of a supply disruption in the Persian Gulf.
``Crude oil is pulling everything lower,'' said James Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois. ``It looks like we will see record inventories in Cushing this week because of all of the refinery outages.''
Crude oil for May delivery fell $2.77, or 4.3 percent, to $61.51 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract is heading for the biggest one-day decline since Jan. 4. Futures touched $68.09 a barrel on March 27, the highest since Sept. 6. Prices are down 8.7 percent from a year ago.
Gasoline for May delivery in New York declined 3.86 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $2.0902 a gallon. Prices surged as high as $2.155 a gallon in early trading, the highest intraday price since Aug. 10.
An Energy Department report on April 11 is expected to show that U.S. crude-oil supplies rose last week as inventories of gasoline and distillate fuel fell, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Gasoline inventories plunged 9.7 percent to 205.2 million barrels in the eight weeks ended March 30, according to the department.
BUT IN PORTUGAL THE OIL PRICE WHENT UP AGAIN, LED BY GALP ENERGIA BP AND OTHERS, THEY ONLY NOW HOW TO INCREASE THE PRICE OF THE PETROL THEY NEVER LOWER THEIR PRICES, SO AVOID FILLING YOUR CAR AT GALP PETROL STATIONS , YOU WILL BE PAYING MORE FOR LESS...