Futures Pros – Crude oil futures declined on Thursday, dropping to a daily low, as investors unwound bets that political turmoil in the Middle East would lead to a disruption to supplies from the region.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at USD87.52 a barrel during European morning trade, sliding 0.49%.
It earlier fell to a daily low of USD87.36 a barrel.
Earlier in the day, Suez Canal officials announced that that plans by two Iranian naval ships to cross the waterway were cancelled, removing a potential policy headache for Egypt's new army rulers.
The Suez Canal transports approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil a day from northern Africa to the U.S. and was identified by the U.S. Energy Information Administration as one of seven “world oil transit chokepoints” and an “important transit corridor for world oil markets” in its 2011 Energy Outlook.
Meanwhile, government data showed Wednesday that U.S. crude oil inventories increased for the fifth consecutive week, the longest stretch of gains since May 2010.
The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of crude oil.
Elsewhere, Brent crude for April delivery dipped 0.47% to trade at USD103.61 a barrel, while natural gas for March delivery shed 0.36% to trade at USD3.909 per million British thermal units during European morning trade.
