Oil prices dropped by more than one dollar per barrel after U.S. government data showed rising supplies of gasoline and other fuels due to increased output by refiners. Light sweet crude for October delivery dipped to US$71.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and October Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange dropped to US$72.20 a barrel.
The Department of Energy, in its weekly petroleum supply report, has said that U.S. inventories of gasoline grew by 400,000 barrels last week to 205.8 million barrels (2.8% more than a year ago). Crude-oil inventories dipped by 600,000 barrels to 330.4 million barrels, (5% higher than last year), as U.S. refiners ran their plants at an average of 92.8% capacity.
The market is watchful for any hurricanes that could strike the production and refining facilities in Gulf of Mexico, and it remains sensitive to the face-off between the West and Iran, OPEC's No. 2 producer.
24-Aug-06 
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