Energy Market Data and Market Trading Tips from Technical Analysts
U. S. crude futures slumped by 4.5 percent touching a low of around $68 per barrel, clearly stung by data showing unexpectedly large weekly increases in domestic crude oil and refined product supplies. New York Mercantile Exchange natural gas futures ended sharply higher on Wednesday, backed by firmer cash prices and some short covering ahead of Thursday's weekly storage report despite concerns about record high inventories and sliding weather-related demand.
IN FOCUS:
The EIA said crude stocks rose 2.8 million barrels to 335.6 million barrels last week, against the forecast in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million barreldrawdown, but much larger than the 276,000 barrel build in the API data.
August crude imports by South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, were up 3.6 percent from the year before at 72.774 million barrels, state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said on Thursday.
Japan's imports of crude oil hit their lowest for the month of August in 20 years last month, sliding 12.4 percent from a year earlier and reflecting weak demand. Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, imported 17.827 million kilolitres (3.62 million barrels per day) of crude oil last month, preliminary Ministry of Finance data showed.
The U. S. Transportation Department said U. S. driving was up 2.3 percent in July from a year earlier. The DOT revised its June estimate down 0.1 point to a 1.9 percent increase from year ago.
FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK:
Crude oil may trade sideways to down today onhuge build in inventory reported by EIA and weakness in equities globally. Demand concerns still persist and crude oil shipping reported further weakness.