Middle East Economic Survey

VOL. LII

No 31

3-Aug-2009

Crude Oil Markets Focus On Economic News, Pay Little Heed To Fundamentals

The price of WTI stayed in the upper $60s/B range for most of last week, except when it closed at $63.35/B on 29 July following the release of data by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing an inventory build of more than 5mn barrels from the previous week. Brent crude continued to trade at a premium to WTI, settling at $70.11/B on 30 July with WTI at...