WTI crude oil futures falls below $75 per barrel

<p>The price of WTI crude futures has now breached the $75 level. The low price just reached $74.96. That is the lowest level since July 20. </p><p>The closing level at the end of the year was at $80.42. </p><ul><li>The high price for the year reached $94.99 (on September 28). </li><li>The low price for the year was at $63.61 (on May 4)</li></ul><p>Since September 28, the price has fallen -21.09%, despite increased tension in the middle east from the Israeli/Hamas conflict. At the same time, concerns about slower economic growth has weighed on the demand side of the equation.</p><p>Late yesterday, the private (API) inventory data showed a much larger than-expected inventory build of +11.9 million barrels (expected 300,000).</p><ul><li>The API is survey of oil storage facilities and companies</li></ul><p>The official government data comes from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) and is typically released the day after the private API data. The inventory data from the EIA for this week is delayed until next week (May 13). </p>

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.