Crude lower on rising supply

摘要

Crude prices continue to fall,as weak refiner demand on both sides of the Atlantic outweighs geopolitical concerns centred on escalating conflict in Iraq(see p3). Atlantic basin benchmark North Sea Dated lost 85￠/bl in the week to 7 August to reach$103.61/bl,while US marker WTI shed 83￠/bl to end at$97.34/bl.WTI had been gaining ground relative to North Sea Dated until late last month,as stocks at Cushing,Oklahoma—the midcontinent pricing point for WTI—drained to the US Gulf coast.This stock-draw has stalled,with the latest US EIA data showing Cush-ing stocks up by 83,000 bl,to 18mn bl,thanks to a series of local refinery shutdowns.These pulled midcontinent refin-ery utilisation rates down to 93.8pc as of 1 August,from over 100pc in early July,the EIA says.