ICE Brent oil trading around $75 on stronger US dollar

ICE Brent crude oil futures slipped towards the bottom of their recent trading range at around $75 per barrel on Tuesday, pulled lower by very weak US crude futures and also depressed by a slightly stronger US dollar.

The nearby contract for US light, sweet crude oil has moved to a steep discount to the second month, reflecting weak prompt demand and growing stocks in the United States, especially in the supply hub of Cushing in Oklahoma, the delivery point for the US futures contract.

That has in turn helped stretch the premium for prompt Brent over prompt U.S. crude oil to between $2.50 and $3.00 per barrel, its widest margin since mid-August.

A preliminary Reuters poll of analysts ahead of weekly oil inventory reports said on Monday that U.S. crude inventories had risen further last week on higher imports. Figures from the US EIA last week showed crude oil stocks at Cushing increased to almost 31 million barrels, already historically high and around 8 million barrels above year ago levels.

Tags:  Brent oil, ICE, oil trading, price, US dollar