Oil prices trading below $68

Crude oil futures prices ended trading slightly lower Thursday amid lingering concerns over weak US oil demand and high inventories.

Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery settled nine cents lower at $67.96 a barrel, the lowest level since Aug. 17. On the ICE, October North Sea Brent crude settled down 54 cents at $67.12 a barrel.

The modest decline followed an unchanged settlement on Wednesday, which was the first since Jan. 12, 2006. The relative stability of recent days belies the volatility of the past month, which saw crude swing in a $10-a-barrel high-low range between $65 and $75 a barrel. Trading was thin ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend.

In the past 10 years, Nymex front-month crude-oil futures have only settled unchanged in six sessions, including Wednesday. In contrast, since Dec. 31, crude futures have posted single-day price swings of more than 10% on six occasions.

Rangebound trading has been guided by continued worries over high inventories and sluggish demand, traders said. While demand for gasoline has shown some late season strength, traders said it is likely to evaporate after the holiday.

Well ahead of the winter demand season, U.S. distillate inventories, including diesel and heating oil, stood at a 28-year high at the end of August, according to Energy Information Administration data. Inventories also are high in Europe, while millions of barrels of extra oil remain in floating storage in tankers.

Traders noted that even news of storm-related delays in oil shipments from one of the world’s biggest refiners caused little stir in the market amid high inventories and tight supplies.

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