September 14, 2009
Oil fell for a second day as US fuel stockpiles gained and crude's rally to more than $US72 a barrel last week outpaced the recovery in the global economy.
Oil fell below $US69 a barrel before a report tomorrow in the US, the world's largest oil consumer, which may show retail spending, excluding gasoline and autos, barely changed in August, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Oil dropped the most in two weeks September 11, ending a four-day climb.
"We're still waiting to see if the fundamentals can catch up with the sentiment in the oil market," said Toby Hassall, a research analyst at CWA Global Markets in Sydney. "There definitely seems to be a bit of significant resistance being encountered once we get into the $(US)70s."
Crude oil for October delivery dropped as much as $US1.24, or 1.8 per cent, to $US68.05 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $US68.14 this morning in Singapore.
The contract fell 3.7 per cent to $US69.29 a barrel on September 11. Prices reached $US72.90 that day, the highest intraday price since August 31.
US oil inventories are more than 13 per cent higher than a year ago, the Energy Department said in a weekly report on September 10. Distillate stockpiles, including heating oil and diesel, are at their highest since 1983.