HOUSTON Here is Thursday s end-of-day Americas oil and chemical market summary from ICIS pricing.
CRUDE: April WTI $97.77/bbl (down 46 cents), April BRENT $96.24/bbl (down $2.18)US crude futures slipped substantially in after-hours electronic Globex trading, following an extremely choppy floor session which saw prices swing from a high of $99.90/bbl to a low of $97.00/bbl. With market speculators dominating the action, prices responded to the weekly supply statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which showed a much larger than forecast build in oil inventories.
*Brent reflects the value of the ICE settlement on the day.
NAPHTHA: N+A naphtha prices were down due to weaker gasoline prices. The N+A naphtha differential to USG (US Gulf) m-grade was unchanged from Wednesday at a 15-cent discount. As a result, N+A naphtha prices ended the day at 234.75-235.00 cents/gal, down from 254.50-254.75 cents/gal the previous session.
MTBE: Spot prices for US methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) were 260.00-265.00 cents/gal, unchanged from Wednesday.
BENZENE: March benzene spot prices were assessed at $3.91-3.98/gal FOB (free on board) HTC (Houston-Texas City), traders said. The range was down from $4.05-4.08/gal FOB HTC on Wednesday.
TOLUENE: March n-grade toluene traded at $3.15/gal FOB HTC, traders said.
XYLENE: March mixed xylene (MX) spot prices were said to be at $3.10-3.16/gal FOB HTC, according to market participants.
CRUDE: April WTI $97.77/bbl (down 46 cents), April BRENT $96.24/bbl (down $2.18)US crude futures slipped substantially in after-hours electronic Globex trading, following an extremely choppy floor session which saw prices swing from a high of $99.90/bbl to a low of $97.00/bbl. With market speculators dominating the action, prices responded to the weekly supply statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which showed a much larger than forecast build in oil inventories.
*Brent reflects the value of the ICE settlement on the day.
NAPHTHA: N+A naphtha prices were down due to weaker gasoline prices. The N+A naphtha differential to USG (US Gulf) m-grade was unchanged from Wednesday at a 15-cent discount. As a result, N+A naphtha prices ended the day at 234.75-235.00 cents/gal, down from 254.50-254.75 cents/gal the previous session.
MTBE: Spot prices for US methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) were 260.00-265.00 cents/gal, unchanged from Wednesday.
BENZENE: March benzene spot prices were assessed at $3.91-3.98/gal FOB (free on board) HTC (Houston-Texas City), traders said. The range was down from $4.05-4.08/gal FOB HTC on Wednesday.
TOLUENE: March n-grade toluene traded at $3.15/gal FOB HTC, traders said.
XYLENE: March mixed xylene (MX) spot prices were said to be at $3.10-3.16/gal FOB HTC, according to market participants.
