C'mon 'pete, what happens with Israel and its neighbors has a large effect on oil prices:
API figures for distillate stocks, including heating oil, rose 2.22 million barrel to 122.50 million barrels, again defying forecasts of a 1.2 million barrel decline.Gasoline stocks, which had been expected to decrease by 1 million barrels, were almost unchanged at 208.88 million barrels, down 10 000 barrels from the previous week but showing a surplus of 15.66 million compared with a year ago.
Analysts said the API report confirmed that recent gains in gasoline prices in the United States are dampening demand ahead of the driving season.
Despite the US stocks rise, brokers said disruptions to Venezuelan oil supplies due to a strike and ongoing violence in the Middle East continued to underpin the market.
"Venezuela and the Middle East overshadowed the API data, which really is insignificant when you look at the big picture," a broker in New York said. Oil prices steady, eyes on Mid-East
Oil prices receded on Tuesday as Israeli forces began leaving Palestinian areas on the West Bank, raising speculation that Iraq will review its decision to stop oil exports for 30 days.U.S. benchmark light crude fell 40 cents to $26.14 a barrel in Asia, wiping out a 33-cent gain on the New York settlement.
Brokers said the withdrawal of Israeli tanks from two West bank cities triggered the decline in crude, which briefly rallied above $27 on Monday when Iraq said it would halt daily exports of some two million barrels in support of the Palestinians. Oil prices recede as IDF forces pull out of W. Bank towns
The petroleum complex opened lower on news early Tuesday that Israel was pulling out of two towns in the West Bank. However, fighting later took place in a refugee camp, leading to one of the most severe battles of the 12-day military offensive.``The conflict, while still intense, will probably wane in the next week or so,'' said Steve Bellino, senior vice president risk management at Fimat USA Inc. ``The market's starting to realize that the flow of oil is not going to stop.''
Heating oil and gasoline futures sustained new declines. May heating oil last traded at 67.80 cents a gallon, down 1.50 cent, while May gasoline futures dropped .80 cent to settle at 83.39 cents a gallon.
Natural gas futures for May delivery finished the day on the Nymex at $3.201 per 1,000 cubic feet, down more 12.6 cents.
In London, Brent crude from the North Sea traded at $26.08, down 94 cents.
Crude and products futures jumped Monday, following an announcement by Iraq that it would halt oil exports for 30 days in a bid to drive Israel out of Palestinian territories. Energy Futures Down Sharply
I agree that what happens with Israel's neighbors affects oil prices,but Israel is just a excuse they use. If Isreal didn't exist and never had existed,they would just look for and find another "reason" to do this. I honestly think that if we were to totally abandon Israel after repossessing ALL the arms and equipment we have given them,leaving them completely defensless to Arab attacks,the Arabs would STILL hate us.Nothingwe can do to change this unless we change our culture to match theirs,and we all become Muslim fundies.
Hey, I'm not trying to bag on you,
No problem,I'm always interested in learning new things.
but oil jumped in the face of excess inventory (should've gone down). The two driving factors were the strike in Argentina and the fighting in Israel.
This is all just opinion,but in MY opinon the stike in Argentina had more to do with it than anything else,including Israel. OPEC saw supply would be down from their competition,so they used this as a excuse to try to increase their profits.