Crude Oil Ends Below $105 On Libya Supply Prospects

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil slipped for a fifth day to end at a three-week low on Wednesday, after news reports said Libya will reopen at least two oil terminals that handles almost 50 percent of the country's shipments and with the dollar ticking higher on some upbeat private jobs data from the U.S. Investors were also monitoring the developments in Ukraine and Iraq, where a solution to the ongoing crisis still remains elusive.

Crude oil fell despite an official weekly oil inventory report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles in the U.S. to have declined.

Earlier today, a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories to have dropped 3.2 million barrels in the week ended June 27, with analysts anticipating a decline of 2.0 million barrels. The EIA report showed U.S. crude oil inventories at 384.9 million barrels, end last week.

Gasoline stocks declined 1.2 million barrels last week, while analysts anticipated an increase of 0.4 million barrels. Inventories of distillate, including heating fuel, rose 1.0 million barrels, even as analysts expected an increase of 0.8 million barrels.

Meanwhile, a report from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, showed crude stockpiles to have declined by 0.88 million barrels last week.

According to news reports, rebels controlling some major oil shipment ports in Libya have agreed to reopen two oil terminals that cater to almost half the country's oil exports. The two ports at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf is capable of handling about 0.5 million barrels of crude per day.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.86 or 0.8 percent to close at $104.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.

Crude prices for August delivery scaled a high of $105.53 a barrel intraday and a low of $104.27.

On Tuesday, crude oil futures ended marginally lower, losing for the fourth successive session. However, some upbeat Chinese manufacturing data and concerns about the situation in Ukraine and Iraq limited oil's decline.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 79.96 on Wednesday, up from its previous close of 79.82 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 80.00 intraday and a low of 79.80.

The euro traded lower against the dollar at $1.3665 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.3679 late Tuesday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.3683 intraday and a low of $1.3644.

On the economic front, a report from ADP showed private-sector hiring in the U.S. to have picked up in June, with employers adding 281,000 jobs. The consensus estimate called for an addition of 213,000 jobs following additions of 179,000 jobs in May. This is the biggest monthly increase in employment since November of 2012.

Meanwhile, data released by the U.S. Commerce Department showed factory orders to have declined by a larger than expected 0.5 percent in May. Economists expected a 0.3 percent drop in orders following a 0.7 percent increase in the previous month.

From Europe, U.K. house prices expanded at the fastest pace since 2005 in June with sharp annual growth in London, even as measures taken by the government helped bring down overall mortgage approvals. House price growth accelerated further to 11.8 percent in June, the strongest since January 2005, from 11.1 percent in May, mortgage lender Nationwide said Wednesday. This exceeded the 11.2 percent rise forecast by economists.

Producer prices in the euro area declined at a slower pace, with industrial producer prices in the domestic market dropping 1.0 percent year-on-year in May, slower than April's 1.2 percent decline. This is in line with economists' expectations.