Oil Nears $100

Oil Continues Slide
10:30a ET September 11, 2008 (Briefing.com)

Oil futures made a brief spike into positive territory before receding back into negative ground. Oil is currently down 1.0% to trade near $101.50 per barrel. Curde is now up just 5.8% year-to-date. Oil exploration and production companies are currently down 2.1% this session, the worst in the energy sector (-1.4%). However, oil and gas refiners (+4.8%) are faring quite well. Many refiners are curtailing operations as hurricanes threaten their facilities, which eases demand for crude oil. That scenario helps build crude inventories, but makes gasoline and other consumable fuels shorter in supply. Softer fuel prices bode well for stocks since they reduce input and operating costs. However, uncertainty related to the global economy and the threat of continued weakness in the financial sector (-3.2%) has promoted traders to act largely independent of oil prices during recent sessions.