Affected by the sharp increase in gasoline inventories last week in the United States, New York's oil prices fell more than 1% on the 14th, but London's oil prices rose slightly due to Greek debt concerns eased.
The same day, the US Energy Information Administration released a report showing that in the week ending September 9, US gasoline inventories increased by 1.9 million barrels, an increase higher than expected, and distillate stocks also increased significantly by 1.7 million barrels, resulting in lower oil prices. Moreover, the Energy Information Administration also said that the demand for gasoline in the "driving season" in the summer of 2011, which had just ended, fell sharply from the previous year, the lowest level since 2003, indicating that energy demand has weakened.
However, the report also shows that crude oil inventories fell by 6.7 million barrels this week, which was far higher than the market’s previous forecast of about 3 million barrels, as Tropical Storm “Lee†caused the closure of crude oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.
In London, Brent oil prices rose as Greece’s debt concerns eased. On the same day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister Papandreou held a 25-minute conference call to discuss measures to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debt. After the meeting, Greece indicated that it will definitely pay all its debts and it will not withdraw from the euro area, which will play a very important role in appeasing the market. According to another report, the "BRIC Five Countries" are considering buying European government bonds to provide assistance to Europe.
The euro also gained momentum this day, rising nearly 0.5% against the US dollar. The dollar is basically flat against the basket of currencies.
At the close of the day, the price of light crude oil for delivery in October on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by $1.30 to settle at $88.91 a barrel, a decrease of 1.44%. However, London Brent crude oil prices in London in October rose 51 cents to settle at 112.40 US dollars a barrel, an increase of 0.46%.