Crude falls slightly on inventory expectations

Crude oil prices fell again on Tuesday, so that by midday October delivery West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $65.15 per barrel, down 50 cents, while Brent crude October contracts were down by 36 cents to $64.14.

The decline in prices came as investors began to look toward the release of weekly US inventories data on Wednesday. Analysts expect that crude oil stockpiles will be up again, for the fourth week in a row. It is also believed by some that prices have reached their upper limit for the present.

Supply worries were also beginning to resolve as earlier stoppages were beginning to clear up and the US summer driving season begins to wind down. While analysts predict that Wednesday’s inventories report will show gasoline stockpiles down again, this is not as much of a worry as it was earlier in the season.

Nymex gasoline prices were down 2.6 percent on Monday and had fallen another 2 percent by midday on Tuesday, to $1.8180 as buyers speculated that prices had reached the point where demand was beginning to be affected.