Even before the forecast by the EIA of impending drop in price at the pumps
during the US Labour weekend, the price of the commodity had been in
decline, not plummeting.
The trend appeared, even when there was no significant increase in US crude
oil inventories.
On Thursday, the main crude oil benchmarks in the US and Europe were
down, nearly 1.3%.
Analysts believe that the following factors may have played a role in
the sudden, unexpected drop:
- Slow refinery runs
- Temporary closer of
refineries for maintenance
- The news that China
struggles to get oil from offshore vessels to storage facilities
- Tendency to interpret China’s
increased refineries as slow economic activity
- Strong dollar
- Low demand for jet fuel
