* NYMEX August crude options expire on Thursday
* Brent August crude contract expires on Thursday
NEW YORK, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell
on Thursday, though trading was choppy, as concerns about
economic recovery and oil demand persisted.
Mike Fitzpatrick, vice president at MF Global in New York,
said the market was trying to decide how high oil prices can
rise before recovery is choked off, adding that "$60 is the
fulcrum balancing the price lever that tips whenever one
contention or another is bolstered by news or economic data."
U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as the latest
economic data clouded investors' views on the prospects for a
recovery even as the corporate earnings season got off to a
strong start. [.N]
August crude oil options expiration on Thursday had also
been expected to provide some trading volatility.
Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc
noted "fairly large open interest" in the $60 puts and calls.
"Many times the market tries to test the strikes with large
open interest on last trading day," Bentz said.
PRICES
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:42 p.m EDT (1742
GMT), August crude CLQ9 was down 68 cents, or 1.1 percent, at
$60.86 a barrel, trading from $60.29 to $62.01.
* In London, expiring August Brent crude LCOQ9 fell 44
cents, or 0.7 percent, to $62.65 a barrel, trading from $61.99
to $63.30.
* NYMEX August RBOB RBQ9 fell 1.18 cents, or 0.69 percent
to $1.6963 a gallon, trading from $1.6807 to $1.7197.
* NYMEX August heating oil HOQ9 fell 0.97 cent, or 0.61
percent, at $1.5724 a gallon, trading from $1.5585 to $1.6080.
* The August/August RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> was at
$10.40, after ending at $10.20 on Wednesday. The August/August
heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> was at $5.17, after ending
at $4.91 on Wednesday.
* The spread between the current front month and the
five-year forward crude contract CLc61 was at $19.76, based
on the August 2014 contract Wednesday settlement at $80.62. The
spread ended Wednesday at $19.08.
TECHNICALS
NYMEX crude 10-day/20-day moving average: $63.35/$66.58
Technical support/resistance:
NYMEX crude: $61.61/$65.60
NYMEX heating oil: $1.54/$1.6242
NYMEX RBOB: $1.6621/$1.7541
For a full report on technicals, click on [ID:nLG115707]
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. Mid-Atlantic region shrank for the 10th consecutive
month in July, a worse-than-expected decline. [ID:nN16411053]
* OPEC seaborne oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador,
will fall 190,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to August
1, Oil Movements said in a weekly estimate. [ID:nWLA9211]
* The dollar hit a six-week low against a basket of major
currencies, but weak manufacturing data and anxiety about other
U.S. bank earnings helped it pare its losses. [USD/]
* China's annual gross domestic product growth accelerated
in the second quarter to 7.9 percent from 6.1 percent in the
first quarter. [ID:nSP537798]
* U.S. oil demand in June declined 5.4 percent from the
year-ago period and declined 6 percent in the first half of
2009, the American Petroleum Institute said. [ID:nWEQ001209]
* Wednesday's U.S. Energy Information Administration
inventory report showed crude stocks fell 2.8 million barrels
last week. Distillate supplies rose 600,000 barrels. Gasoline
supplies rose 1.5 million barrels. [EIA/S]
* Oil product inventories stored in independent tanks in
the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp area rose to an all-time high
in the week ending Thursday because of weak demand for middle
distillates. [ID:nLN035053]
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by David Gregorio)
