The price of oil fell today , dropping to $ 96 per barrel (mark WTI), which was the lowest value since July. Note that this trend was triggered by release of data on U.S. oil reserves , which indicated the next increase .

Energy Department data on changes in stocks in the U.S. for the week October 14-20, showed that:

- Oil stocks rose 5.246 million barrels to 379.784 million barrels ;

- Gasoline inventories decreased by 1,805 million barrels . to 215.504 million barrels . ;

- Distillate stocks rose by 1.537 million barrels . to 125.774 million barrels .

- Refining capacity utilization rate 85.9 % versus 86.2 % a week earlier ;

- Oil terminal in Cushing and rose 0.358 million barrels . to 33,344 million barrels .

Recall that on Monday, the U.S. government announced that oil reserves rose by 4 million barrels in the week to October 11.

Meanwhile, we add that the data presented yesterday its Petroleum Institute API. They showed that the capacity utilization fell to 85.6 % from 86.0% , distillate stocks for the week rose by 0.815 million barrels, gasoline inventories last week fell by 0.51 million barrels, while oil stocks for the week rose by 3 , 0 million barrels

" Traders are starting to realize that it is difficult to maintain an optimistic outlook for oil prices with an increase in inventory levels ," - says the president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Michael Lynch.

We add that the increase in oil inventories was recorded also in China - the second largest importer of raw materials. In September the index rose by 1.43 % compared with August , reaching at this level to 237.6 million barrels.

The cost of the December futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to $ 96.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

December futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture fell $ 1.41 to $ 108.60 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold prices declined moderately today, departing from the four-week high as investors started to close their positions after yesterday's employment report, which was weaker than expected. Recall that on Tuesday, the price of the precious metal rose nearly 2%, reaching the highest level since Sept. 20, while the dollar fell to 8-month low against the data, reinforcing investors' expectations that the Fed will keep the amount of incentive program unchanged until next year.

"Yesterday's growth plays out very quickly, which is another sign that growth is indeed seen as an opportunity to sell, and people do not expect higher prices," said an analyst at ABN Amro Georgette Boulay. "People are selling because they are not too confident about the prospects, but they know that sooner or later, the U.S. economy will get better and the dollar is likely to grow, so this is a temporary phenomenon."

Data presented today also showed that stocks of the world's largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold SPDR Gold Shares on Tuesday rose by more than 6 tons, the biggest daily rise in two months. Recall that on Monday the fund holdings declined by more than 10 tons.

The cost of the December gold futures on COMEX today dropped to $ 1334.10 per ounce.

GOLD 1,342.50 26.80 2.04%

OIL (WTI) 97.80 -1.42 -1.43%