Crude oil futures fell slightly, retreating from the highs of this week, move caused by mixed US petroleum inventories data.
US Department of Energy reported that crude oil inventories rose last week by 4.9 million barrels. According to the forecast, it was expected to grow by 1.75 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell by 1.9 mln barrels, while analysts had expected a decrease of 1.491 million barrels. Oil reserves in Cushing terminal fell by 1.318 million barrels, amounting to 61.334 million barrels. Imports of US crude rose by 0.151 million barrels per day to 7.861 million barrels per day. Distillate inventories in the US decreased by 3.7 mln barrels to 157.0 million barrels. Meanwhile, the US refinery utilization fell to 85.5% against 88.3% the previous week
The cost of the November futures for US light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to 50.10 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
November futures price for North Sea petroleum mix of mark Brent fell to 51.60 dollars a barrel on the London Stock Exchange ICE Futures Europe.