Iran announced that it would free 15 detained British sailors, aiding in reducing fears of an oil supply disruption. Oil prices dropped on Thursday as light, sweet crude for May delivery fell to US$64.25 a barrel in midmorning Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This drop, for the second consecutive day, has shaved off a small part of the US$5 premium added to crude futures after the sailors were detained March 23. One possible reason for this could be concerns about tight U.S. domestic supplies that has offset much of the relief over the Britons' release. A weekly report released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that gasoline inventories declined for the eighth straight week and that demand is still strong. U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 4.3 million barrels to 332.7 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories dropped 5 million barrels to 205.2 million barrels. This drop is much larger than the market had anticipated.
05-Apr-07 
{{comment.DateTimeStampDisplay}}
{{comment.Comments}}