Crude oil fell to a four week low after a U.S. Energy Department report showed that refineries slashed operating rates as fuel demand declined. Plants ran at 78.4 percent of capacity last week, the lowest rate since September 2008 when hurricanes struck the Gulf of Mexico. Gasoline supplies surged to the highest level since March 2008. Fuel use in the past four weeks fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier. Oil also dropped as the dollar strengthened and stocks declined. “Refineries aren’t running and we still got a big build in gasoline inventories,” said Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago. “This is a signal that demand is very weak in the U.S., and there is no sign that it will increase anytime soon.”
Crude oil for March delivery fell $1.22, or 1.6 percent, to $76.52 a barrel at 11:57 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $76.02, the lowest level since Dec. 23. Oil traded at $77.41 before the release of the report at 11 a.m. in Washington. The greenback strengthened after a report said the European Union was preparing a loan for Greece, which Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou denied.
The U.S. currency traded at $1.4095 per euro, from $1.4106 yesterday. The greenback touched $1.4029, the highest level since July 30. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 1.5 percent to 1,121.37 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.8 percent to 10,416.79.....Read the entire article.
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