NOON SNAPSHOT - Americas Markets Summary

19 July 2010 18:00  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Here is Monday’s mid-day Americas oil and chemical market summary from ICIS.

CRUDE:  Aug WTI: $76.20/bbl, up 19 cents; Sep Brent: $75.50/bbl, up 13 cents
NYMEX crude futures (WTI) eased off intra-day highs after a strong open in Wall Street faltered in response to weak housing data but the euro remained firm versus the dollar.  WTI (West Texas Intermediate) topped out at $77.69/bbl before retreating.

NATURAL GAS: $4.493/MMBtu, down 2.6 cents
The August natural gas contract started higher out of the gate with a wave of high temperatures predicted in near-term weather forecasts. As recent trends in the market have shown, any sustained spikes in values were thwarted by high inventory levels, putting prices at a loss by midday.

RBOB: $2.0595/gal, up 1.09 cents
Reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) prices traded higher after trading flat to Friday’s prices early on. The boost in price could be due to reports that China has surpassed the US as the largest consumer of energy. The drop in consumer confidence reported on Friday, however, has pared gains.

BENZENE: down at $2.61-2.64/gal
US Gulf spot benzene barges were priced in a range of $2.61-2.64/gal July DDP (delivered, duty paid), down a penny from Friday's end-of-day spread. Weakness in the European market, sliding equities and near neutral moves in crude oil trading contributed to the slight decrease in pricing ideas.

ETHYLENE: up at 31.00-33.50 cents/lb
US ethylene offers held at 33.50 cents/lb, compared with a deal on Friday at 33.25 cents/lb. July bids retreated to 31.00 cents/lb.

PROPYLENE: steady at 42.00-46.00 cents/lb
US refinery-grade propylene (RGP) was heard in a bid/offer range of 42.00-46.00 cents/lb, a wider range compared with the previous Friday.

For more pricing intelligence please visit http://www.icispricing

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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