WSJ.com - Crude Prices Fall on Large Builds
Page 1 of 2

April 27, 2005 11:35 a.m. EDT
COMMODITIES
Crude Prices Fall on Large Builds
DOW JONES REPRINTS
This copy is for your personal,
By MASOOD FARIVAR
non-commercial use only. To order
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
presentation-ready copies for
April 27, 2005 11:35 a.m.
distribution to your colleagues,
clients or customers, use the Order
Reprints tool at the bottom of any
Oil prices dropped sharply Wednesday after government data
article or visit:
showed a surprisingly large build in U.S. crude inventories.
www.djreprints.com.
· See a sample reprint in PDF
At the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude prices for June
format.
· Order a reprint of this article now.
delivery dropped as much as $1.38 to a low of $52.82 a barrel. On

London's International Petroleum Exchange, Brent futures for
June delivery dropped $1.29 to a low of $52.85.
With crude futures tumbling, petroleum-products futures came under selling pressure despite
reported draws in distillate and gasoline inventories. Nymex gasoline futures for May delivery
dropped to a low of $1.57 a gallon, down 5.51 cents, before recovering a bit. Heating-oil futures
for May delivery were down 2.29 cents at a low of $1.4870 a gallon.
Commercial inventories of crude oil grew by 5.5 million barrels last week to 324.4 million barrels
last week, as imports surged to nearly 11 million barrels a day, the federal Energy Information
Administration reported.
The build was the tenth in the past 11 weeks and more than wiped out an inventory draw reported
last week. Crude stocks now stand at their highest level in nearly three years. Data from the
American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, confirmed the EIA report, showing a build of 4.6
million barrels.
The numbers surprised analysts, as market surveys had called for a build of less than 1 million
barrels. "We were expecting a build in crude inventories, but 5.5 million was a rich number," a
trader said. "Obviously there is a lot of oil in the market. The market is going to try to ease off a
bit unless you really have problem in gasoline."
In other commodity markets:
GRAINS: Grain and soybean prices retreated Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat
for May delivery fell one cent to $3.21 a bushel, and May corn fell a cent to $2.12 a bushel. May
oats fell a cent to $1.49 a bushel, while May soybeans fell four cents to $6.32 a bushel.
LIVESTOCK: Beef and pork prices declined on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. June live
cattle fell .40 cent to 86.72 cents a pound, and May feeder cattle fell .40 cent to $1.0835 a pound.
May lean hogs fell .32 cent to 76.60 cents a pound, and May pork bellies fell .20 cent to 81.30
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB111461420346618370,00.html
4/27/2005