Friday, July 11, 2008

The US government payed $106.28 for crude oil in May 2008

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis published data for imports of energy related petroleum products, including crude oil, for May 2008. Crude oil consumption was at 9.48 thousand bpd down from 10.1 thousand bpd in April 2008. According to the data the U.S. paid $106.28 per barrel of crude in May 2008, that is substantially lower than the average forward price of $122.17 for the same month. This illustrates clearly a disconnect between the physical crude oil market and the forward pricing mechanism in the futures market.

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source: U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES

U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, May 2008
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/trade/2008/pdf/trad0508.pdf

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