Crude Slipping Ahead of EIA Data: Oil Alert
Updated with recent price movements.
CITY (
) -- Oil futures were losing ground and dipping below $68 Wednesday morning, following news of an inventory drop and just ahead of further supply data from the federal government.
Benchmark crude for delivery in October was slipping 37 cents at $67.68 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after tracking upwards before the open cry session. On Tuesday, the front-month contract settled at $68.05 after losing $1.91.
Also on Tuesday, the industry's own American Petroleum Institute said that inventories in the U.S. fell by 3.2 million barrels last week, far outpacing forecasts of a slimmer draw down. The Energy Department is set to report its inventory numbers later in the morning.
Turning to stocks, almost all of the oil majors lost ground yesterday, but some were tracking back up during pre-market action.
Exxon Mobil
(XOM) - Get Report
fell 74 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $68.41 yesterday. Just after the opening bell this morning, shares were adding back 12 cents.
Chevron
(CVX) - Get Report
lost $1.46 to close at $68.48, while
ConocoPhillips
(COP) - Get Report
slipped 88 cents to $44.15. But this morning, both were in positive territory, with Chevron gaining 31 cents and ConocoPhillips clawing back another 43 cents.
-- Written by Sung Moss in New York
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