NOON SNAPSHOT - Americas Markets Summary

11 March 2011 18:00  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Here is Friday’s midday Americas oil and chemical market summary from ICIS.

CRUDE: Apr WTI: $100.75/bbl, down $1.95; Apr Brent: $114.04/bbl, down $1.39
Crude futures plunged after Japan’s earthquake and tsunami to an intra-day low of $99.01/bbl, as the market worried over damage to the country’s economy and oil demand. Prices later rebounded as the market refocused on the Libyan civil war and protests in Saudi Arabia.

RBOB: Apr: $2.9900/gal, down 2.96 cents
Reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) prices dropped after a massive earthquake hit offshore Japan, resulting in a hard hit to the one of the largest global economies. This also resulted in a higher dollar, which pushed commodity prices lower.

NATURAL GAS: Apr: $3.930/MMBtu, up 10.0 cents
The NYMEX front-month contract rebounded from Thursday’s 10-cent drop and recouped the previous session’s losses by midday. Buying signals moved the price higher in direct contrast to warming weather forecasts.

ETHANE: down at 64.25-64.50 cents/gal
Mont Belvieu ethane fell sharply in the early morning, following the plunge in the NYMEX petroleum complex. Recent bids and offers showed that ethane was rebounding slightly into midday.

AROMATICS: styrene flat at 68.75-69.25 cents/lb
Prompt styrene prices were unchanged early Friday amid thin market interest. Meanwhile, trade participants said benzene, toluene and mixed xylene (MX) prices were moving higher this morning. However, market prices were not yet disclosed.

OLEFINS: ethylene flat at 53.00-54.00 cents/lb DEL (delivered), RGP flat at 67.50-70.25 cents/lb
Olefins markets were unchanged this morning as trade participants kept watch on how the deadly tsunami and earthquake in Japan might impact prices in the US.

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

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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