U.S. Government Shutdown Blinds Oil Markets
Category: Oilseeds
(Wall Street Journal) – Crude prices traded lower Monday as the U.S. government shutdown deprived investors of important data on oil markets, but supply outages from Libya, Iraq and West Africa limited losses.
The November Brent on London’s ICE futures exchange was down 13 cents, or 0.1%, at $111.15 a barrel. The November contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 36 cents, or 0.4%, at $102.38 a barrel.
Some oil market indicators, including the Commitment of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, were not published or may not be published because the agencies that publish them are affected by the shutdown in Washington. The reports are a valuable gauge for investors, especially at a time of anxiety over the implications of the U.S. debt crisis for oil markets.
“The problem is not only the debt crisis but also the government shutdown which makes us almost blind, considering the data,” Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank. “I’m curious how we’re going to be judging the moves without much of the data from the largest oil consumer this week.”
Outages from Libya, Nigeria and Iraq are providing some support to prices. Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA) has deferred 150,000 barrels of Bonny Light crude oil a day after leaks forced it to shut down its Trans Niger Pipeline last week. The International Energy Agency, based in Paris, said the U.S. fiscal crisis could undercut demand in a well-supplied market.
Also, Chinese crude imports hit a record high of 6.3 million barrels a day in September, up 28% from the previous year.
Investors will look to Commitment of Traders data later Monday from the IntercontinentalExchange on positions in the Brent market.
The ICE’s gasoil contract for November delivery was up $6.75, or 0.7%, at $940.25 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for November delivery was up 36 points, or 0.1%, at $2.6716 a gallon.
