Wednesday May 7, 09:48 AM
Oil steady near record ahead of U.S. inventory data
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Oil was steady near yesterday's record $122.73 ahead of weekly U.S. inventory statistics as the dollar's recent rally slowed and as supply concerns continued to stoke jitters.
A Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) forecast, released yesterday, predicting oil at $200 within the next two years also sparked buying.
At 3:30 pm Wednesday the U.S. Energy Information Administration is expected to report its crude inventories in the week to May 2 rose by 1.9 million barrels while refinery runs increased by 0.5 percentage points following last week's fall to 85.4 percent.
Gasoline stockpiles are expected to have dropped by 200,000 barrels ahead of the peak demand driving season, analysts predicted, while distillates, which include heating oil, are seen rising by 1.3 million barrels.
'Key today will be the release of the weekly EIA data,' said Bank of Ireland (Dublin: BIR.IR - news) analyst Paul Harris (PAUHQ.PK - news) . 'Should the data disappoint the market could quickly test yesterday's highs. Of particular interest will be the gasoline number in the context of the upcoming US driving season. Better-than-expected figures may prompt the belief that the market is over-extended and deliver a retracement - but this is likely to be only marginal.'
At 9:28 a.m., New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was up 20 cents to $122.04 a barrel, having yesterday hit a record high of $122.73 a barrel.
In London, Brent crude for June delivery was up 29 cents at $120.60, having yesterday touched an all-time record of $120.99.
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