U. S. crude futures edged up over $60 a barrel on Wednesday, as industry data showed crude oil and gasoline stockpiles fell last week but closed slightly down. MCX Crude also made a high of Rs. 3003 but settled lower at Rs. 2901. Nat gas climbed by 6.41 and 4.64 percent respectively on NYMEX and MCX respectively.

The U. S. Energy Information Administration's report on Wednesday showed crude stocks fell 2.8 million barrels in the week to July 10. Distillate supplies rose only 600,000 barrels, while gasoline supplies rose 1.5 million barrels. Refinery utilization rose 1.1 percentage points, the EIA said, against a forecast for capacity use to slip.

OPEC could cut output at its September meeting, if oil falls below $50 to $55 a barrel, a member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council said.

Nigeria's most prominent militant group said it would observe a 60-day cease-fire from Wednesday.

Baker Hughes said Friday the number of U. S. rigs drilling for natural gas fell 16 to 672, down 56 percent from the same week last year and the lowest level since Feb. 15, 2002. Recent government data showed U. S. natural gas production was down for a fourth straight month, with output in June finally dropping below the same year-ago month for the first time this year.

Natural gas has been victimized after the release of a poll which showed that we may see a built in Natural gas stocks. So we recommend wait and watch policy in natural gas. Crude oil looks strong for the day and is likely to move up.