SPECULATION

The much needed slowing down on SPECULATION has finally happened and the result was instant as crude oil fell, reaching its biggest two-day drop since January.

U.S. Stockpiles fell 452,000 barrels to 313.2 million last week, according to the Energy Department. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, where New York-traded West Texas Intermediate oil is stored, rose 665,000 barrels to 15.2 million. Refineries operated at 89.4 percent of capacity, the highest since the week ended Sept. 14, the report showed.

Crude-oil stocks didn't fall as much as expected and there was actually a big build in Cushing.

Crude oil for January delivery fell $3.80 to $90.62 a barrel at 2:45 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was the lowest close since Oct. 30. Futures reached $99.29 on Nov. 21, the highest intraday price since trading began in 1983. Prices are up 49 percent from a year ago.

Brent crude oil for January delivery fell to close at $89.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent reached $96.65 a barrel on Nov. 26, the highest since trading began in 1988.

Perhaps we will now be heading for the $90 area.

Refinery Maintenance has now ended, refiners usually start units in November that were shut during September and October to make repairs after the summer driving season and before heating demand picks up.

However today oil surged more than $4 a barrel, the most in a month, after an explosion cut Canadian oil shipments through Enbridge Inc. pipelines that typically provide about 15 percent of U.S. crude imports.

According to the news agency, Enbridge closed four pipelines that supply an average of 1.5 million barrels a day after a blast yesterday killed two workers. The company confirmed a fire is still burning at the Clearbrook terminal in Minnesota where the pipelines meet.

Crude oil for January delivery gained as much as $4.55 to $95.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the biggest gain since Oct. 31

According to a spokeswoman for Calgary-based Enbridge, all the lines are shut down until they can safely start up the system, they also mentioned at least one or two lines will be shut down for quite sometime.

Brent crude oil for January settlement climbed as much as $3.01, to $92.82 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Today's rally places a 7.7 percent slide in the first three days of the week, driven by signs that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is raising production and may increase output further.

Enbridge's pipelines typically feed 1.5 million barrels a day of crude to refineries including BP Plc's plant in Whiting, Indiana, and plants in the U.S.'s refining heartland on the Gulf Coast. The U.S. imported 10.3 million barrels a day last week.

The leak and explosion occurred at the No. 3 pipeline, which was undergoing maintenance, now we will have a session of SPECULATION.