EVENING SNAPSHOT - Americas Markets Summary

16 July 2010 23:32  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Here is Friday’s end of day Americas oil and chemical market summary from ICIS.

CRUDE: Aug WTI: $76.01/bbl, down 61 cents; Sep Brent: $75.37/bbl, down 72 cents.
NYMEX crude futures (WTI) drifted lower towards $75.82/bbl in after-market activity, extending the losses posted during the normal floor session. A sell-off in the stock market in response to disappointing economic data pressured the energy complex, overshadowing weakness in the US dollar.    

NATURAL GAS: $4.519/MMBtu, down 6.7 cents
The front-month natural gas futures contract ended the NYMEX trading session at a loss as a rig-count report showed production increasing week over week despite natural gas stockpiles 10% above the five-year average. That factor overshadowed any upwards pricing momentum based on upcoming hot weather in the US.

RBOB: $2.0486/gal, down 1.21 cents
Reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) prices ended the day more than a cent lower as investors continued to brood over the negative economic news reported earlier this week. And the blows did not stop there. A tropical storm brewing in the Caribbean was said to be unlikely to interrupt any oil production. Furthermore, a US consumer report showed sentiment weakened in early July to its lowest in 11 months because of worries about income and jobs, according to Thomson Reuters.

BENZENE: steady at $2.62-2.65/gal
A USG (US Gulf) spot benzene deal was heard at $2.62/gal DDP (delivered duty paid) July, the same price for July transaction done on Thursday. The July range moved into a tighter range than the morning but unchanged from Thursday at $2.62-2.65/gal. An August deal was done at $2.65/gal FOB (free on board), also identical to transactions earlier in the week.

ETHYLENE: up at 33.25-33.50 cents/lb
US ethylene traded at 33.25 cents/lb on Friday, extending an uptrend that began earlier this week amid support from a cracker outage in Texas.

PROPYLENE: up at 43.00-45.50 cents/lb
US refinery-grade propylene (RGP) was bid at 43.00 cents/lb on Friday with offers at 45.50 cents/lb. RGP for July traded earlier this week 44.00 and 45.00 cents/lb.

For more pricing intelligence please visit www.icispricing.com.

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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