US oil reserves expected to show further depletion
Following the profit-taking earlier in the week, focus has returned once again to the US oil reserve data released this afternoon.
Numbers are expected to show further depletion - albeit at a slower rate than last week - of gasoline stocks which may re-ignite price pressures ahead of the US driving season which begins in May.
Attempts by the US government to take the sting out of the surge in oil prices by diverting deliveries to the Strategic Reserve into the market failed to engender any positive tone to the market.
In reality the move will add only 0.3% of additional crude to the market.
Other positive news is that the 120,000b/d Meraux refinery, damaged by the hurricane last year, will return to production in May.
The positives are still buried under the weight of concerns over Iran and Nigeria which show no signs of abating any time soon, consigning the markets to a prolonged period of nervousness and prices remaining in the $70/bbl area at least for the forseeable future.
