Oil futures prices have tumbled in the wake of a report showing domestic inventories of gasoline and crude were at higher-than-expected levels. In Wednesday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, June contracts for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark crude, fell 17 cents to close at $17.20 per barrel. Among refined products for June delivery, wholesale unleaded gasoline lost 0.56 cent per gallon, settling at 49.72 cents, and wholesale heating oil dropped 0.57 cent to 46.20 cents per gallon. The American Petroleum Institute, a Washington-based trade organization, reported late Tuesday that domestic gasoline supplies grew by 5.9 million barrels in the week ended April 29, while crude stocks shrunk by 700,000 barrels. Those figures in particular sent prices lower in London and New York, because they left more inventory than was expected, said Mary L. Haskins, an analyst at the Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. When inventories rise faster than demand, prices tend to fall. Wednesday's declines also reflected continuing market perceptions that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would be unable to agree on a way tighten up its production, even when it meets next month in Vienna, Ms. Haskins said. Technical factors also contributed to the day's declines, she said.
