Oil down a dollar in NY

23/01/2009

Oil prices have retreated more than a dollar during trading this morning (January 23rd), standing at $42.60 (£31.38) a barrel by 10:42 GMT.

The decline follows the publication of data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) which showed that US stocks of crude oil rose by 6.1 million barrels over the course of last week.

Such figures further compound investment sentiment that there is weak demand for oil and derivatives such as heating oil and DERV.

Gasoline inventories also increased by 6.5 million barrels, the EIA found, while stockpiles of distillates such as heating oil were up 800,000 barrels.

"We don't see any reason for a strong pickup in demand for some time forward," said Gerard Burg, a minerals and energy economist with National Australia Bank in Melbourne, speaking to the Associated Press.

The EIA also showed that the world benchmark crude contract - West Texas Intermediate - declined more than five dollars during the week, with an average price of $35.38 a barrel.