The price of oil was heading down toward $92 a barrel today, near six-month lows, after US crude stockpiles rose for a tenth consecutive week. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark US crude for January delivery was down 16 cents at $92.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, having dropped $1.38 yesterday. Floor trading on the Nymex was closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, resulting in low trading volumes.
Oil has declined from about $110 in September due to reduced tensions in the oil-rich Middle East but above all to muted demand and high supplies. The Energy Department reported that crude supplies increased by 3 million barrels, or 0.8 per cent, in the week ended November 22. The nation’s supply of crude oil is now 391.4 million barrels, which is 4.6 per cent above year-ago levels and “well above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year,” the report said.
“Growing US oil production played its part in this, exceeding 8 million barrels per day for the first time since January 1989,” said analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt in a note to clients. “US crude oil stocks have reached their highest level for a November since records began in the early 1980s.”