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Oil prices lose for four days running

08 April 2009 08:09 (UTC +04:00)

Bakuâ€“ APA-Economics. Crude oil fell for a fourth day on speculation a government report today will show U.S. supplies increased as the recession curbed fuel demand, Bloomberg reported.
The Energy Department will probably say crude stockpiles climbed 1.5 million barrels last week because of lower refinery operating rates, a Bloomberg News survey said. The industry- funded American Petroleum Institute said late yesterday supplies climbed 6.94 million barrels. The two reports have moved in the same direction 75 percent of the time in the past four years.
Crude oil for May delivery fell as much as $1.05, or 2.1 percent, to $48.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $48.11 a barrel at 12 p.m. Singapore time.
Futures have risen 8.1 percent this year and are down 67 percent from a record in July. Yesterday, crude dropped $1.90, or 3.7 percent, to $49.15 a barrel, the lowest since April 1.
Demand for oil has slumped as the global recession reduces purchases of manufactured goods. The current-account surplus for Japan, the worldâ€™s third-largest crude user, fell 56 percent to 1.117 trillion yen ($11 billion) in February from a year earlier after exports dropped an unprecedented 50 percent.
Crude-oil inventories climbed 2.84 million barrels to 359.4 million in the week ended March 27, the highest since July 1993, the Energy Department reported on April 1. It was the 23rd gain in 27 weeks. The increase left supplies 13 percent higher than the five-year average.
The price of oil for delivery in May is lower than for the following months, allowing buyers to profit from storing crude, a structure known as contango. The price of oil on the Nymex for delivery in June is $2.76 a barrel higher than for May, up from a $2.33 premium on April 6.
rent crude oil for May settlement fell as much as 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $50.47 a barrel on Londonâ€™s ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $50.60 a barrel at 11:41 a.m. Singapore time. The contract dropped $1.02, or 2 percent, to end the session at $51.22 a barrel yesterday.
May Brent futures are more than $2 a barrel higher than Nymex West Texas Intermediate oil for the same month, the biggest premium for the front-month contract since Feb. 24. Brent oil is often priced at a discount to WTI crude and traded lower for most of March.