OPEC postpones meeting, causing market reaction
- Crude and refined product futures recover from morning lows
- OPEC postpones meeting, causing market reaction
- US crude benchmarks trading below $75/bbl
- Brent crude also seeing declines
- ULSD contracts claw back morning declines
- Gasoline losses deeper
- Bearish inventory and demand data released by EIA
- US crude inventories increase by 8.7 million bbl
- Gasoline stocks rise, distillate supplies fall
- US refineries operate at 87%
- Implied domestic gasoline demand decreases
- US spot gasoline and diesel prices follow futures lower
Crude and refined product futures backed off earlier lows at midday Wednesday, but remained in the red as markets reacted to the postponement of Sunday’s scheduled meeting of OPEC and allied oil producers. U.S. crude benchmarks were trading below $75/bbl at about 11:45 a.m. ET, with the NYMEX January West Texas Intermediate contract off by $2.96 to $74.81/bbl. That was up nearly $1 from the morning’s low. The February WTI contract was $2.95 lower at $74.97/bbl. European benchmark Brent crude was seeing similar declines, with the January contract off by $3.02 to $79.43/bbl and February down $2.96 to $79.52/bbl. ULSD contracts clawed back more than half of their morning declines, with the NYMEX December contract off 4.28cts to $2.8821/gal after sinking as low as $2.8129/gal. The January contract was 5.68cts lower at $2.7954/gal. Gasoline losses were deeper, with the front-month NYMEX RBOB contract 7.21cts lower at $2.1617/gal, about 3cts off earlier lows. The January contract was 7.55cts lower at $2.1325/gal. Prices fell sharply Wednesday morning after OPEC announced it was postponing its planned Sunday meeting to Nov. 30. While the cartel did not give a reason for the delay, reports indicate disagreement in the group over production levels assigned to individual countries. The news largely overshadowed bearish inventory and demand data released later in the morning by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. EIA reported a substantial 8.7 million bbl increase in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended Friday, leaving them about 1% below the five-year average. Gasoline stocks rose by 700,000 bbl while distillate supplies fell by 1 million bbl, putting them about 13% below the five-year average, according to EIA. The agency also reported U.S. refineries operated at 87% last week, up nearly one percentage point from the previous week. EIA put implied domestic gasoline demand at 8.48 million b/d in the week ending Nov. 17, down more than 400,000 b/d week to week. U.S. spot gasoline and diesel prices were largely following futures lower, though declines in Chicago CBOB prices were about half those seen in the rest of the country.
Factuality Level: 8
Factuality Justification: The article provides factual information about the decline in crude and refined product futures due to the postponement of the OPEC meeting and disagreement over production levels. It also includes data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration about inventory levels and refinery operations. The article does not contain any irrelevant or misleading information, sensationalism, redundancy, or opinion masquerading as fact.
Noise Level: 7
Noise Justification: The article provides information on the decline in crude and refined product futures due to the postponement of the OPEC meeting. It also includes data on inventory and demand, as well as refinery operations. However, it lacks analysis of long-term trends or antifragility and does not hold powerful people accountable or provide actionable insights.
Financial Relevance: Yes
Financial Markets Impacted: Crude oil and refined product futures
Presence Of Extreme Event: No
Nature Of Extreme Event: No
Impact Rating Of The Extreme Event: No
Rating Justification: The article discusses the impact of the postponement of the OPEC meeting on crude oil and refined product futures. While there is no mention of an extreme event, the financial markets are directly affected by this news.
Public Companies: OPEC (null), NYMEX (null), Dow Jones & Co (null)
Private Companies: Oil Price Information Service
Key People: Steve Cronin (Reporter), Jeff Barber (Editor)
www.marketwatch.com 
