Energy Market Preview by Trade the News Staff - The EIA releases its weekly inventory data tomorrow. According to a major wire survey, crude inventories are expected to have risen 600,000 barrels last week, gasoline inventories to have climbed 2.0M barrels and distillate inventories to have fallen 4.0M barrels. The refinery utilization rate is seen rising 0.15%. - According to an internal EU document, Iran will be able to develop enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb and there is little that can be done to prevent it. The EU concluded that the problems with Iran will not be resolved through economic sanctions alone. - The Paris-based International Energy Agency increased its 2007 world oil demand forecast by 270,000 b/d or 1.8%. It also lowered its 2007 forecast for Non-OPEC supply by 1.8M b/d to 50.5. Most of the change was a one-off statistical revision to re-categorize Angola as an OPEC producer. - An OPEC delegate said today that it is too early to judge the need for additional output cuts. - The Financial Times reported that oil and gas production in the North Sea is expected to be about 10% lower over the next few years than anticipated. - On the weather front, Accuweather wrote on its website today that the storm that will bring a disruptive snow to the southern Midwest states and severe thunderstorms to the South today will blast the Northeast with a significant amount of winter weather tonight into Valentine's Day. As the storm rapidly intensifies off the coast, over a foot of snow will bury the interior Northeast with dangerous ice mixing with snow and rain along the Interstate 95 corridor from New York City to Washington, D.C. - At 8:15 a.m. crude futures are down $0.07 at $57.74.
thanks TTN for your brilliant broadcasting of the D news... would have been nice if you at least followed up with the lame " no news" comment