SPR deliveries pull crude down

By VAHE PETROSSIAN London

 29 July 2011 01:12 GMT

Oil prices fell this week as the US reported rising inventories, partly due to the first deliveries of crude from the Strategic Petrol­eum Reserve (SPR) and a last-minute recovery in the value of the dollar on Wednesday.

US light crude was down $1.40 at $98.19 per barrel in mid-day trading. Earlier in the day, prices had plunged by more than $2 per barrel.

In London, benchmark Brent crude fell $0.91 to $117.37 per barrel in late afternoon trading.

The US Energy Information Administration released data on Wednesday morning showing a surprise increase of 2.3 million barrels in crude inventories to 354 million barrels during the previous week.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a fall of 1.7 million barrels. The increase was partly due to higher imports, which rose by nearly…

Become an Upstream member!

Membership includes a subscription to our weekly newspaper providing in-depth news from the energy industry, plus full-access to this site and its archives. Still not convinced? Try our free trial.

Already a member?

Login

Upstream share price index