Commodity Corner: Oil Breaks $100 Again

June crude oil settled at $100.10 a barrel Wednesday after a U.S. Department of Energy report showed a slight decrease in oil stocks last week.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced that crude inventories fell by 15,000 barrels as of last Friday, leaving the previous week's 370.3 million-barrel figure virtually flat. Analysts had predicted the inventory level to move in the other direction. A Platts survey of analysts had projected a 500,000-barrel build for the week.

Oil peaked at $100.99 and bottomed out at $97.46 Wednesday.

Thanks to forecast models predicting warmer weather conditions in the Northeast and South, natural gas for June delivery edged upward to settle at $4.20 per thousand cubic feet.

June natural gas traded within a range from $4.18 to $4.24 during the midweek session.

The June gasoline contract price also rose Wednesday, ending the day $2.96 a gallon. Gasoline futures fluctuated from $2.93 to $2.98.


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