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by Daniel J. Graeber New York (UPI) Mar 18, 2015
Concerns about a slow pace of economic recovery and a build in U.S. oil inventories pushed West Texas Intermediate prices to new lows Wednesday. WTI for April delivery dipped to a six-year low in Tuesday's session. A report from Genscape, a company that provides energy market data, said oil stored at a depot in Cushing, Okla., was at an all-time high, passing the previous record set in 2013. The price for WTI is more than 50 percent below the historic high-water mark set in June 2014. Oil has traded in a bear market since then as supplies far outweigh demand. Most of the supply growth comes from the United States, which is on pace to break a 40-year-old record for oil production. The price for WTI early in the Wednesday session was down about 2.5 percent from the previous day to $42.29. The low price of oil is seen as a de facto stimulus for most consumers and consuming nations, but a drag on countries like Russia and Canada that derive a large part of their government revenues from oil and natural gas exports. A report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, of which the United States and Canada are members, said low oil prices were boosting growth in most major economies, but overall inflation was low and risks of financial instability remain. OECD Chief Economic Catherine Mann said the bear market for crude oil helped the world economy leave the recent global recession behind. "Lower oil prices and widespread monetary easing have brought the world economy to a turning point, with the potential for the acceleration of growth that has been needed in many countries," she said Wednesday. "There is no room for complacency, however." The OECD expects the U.S. economy will grow by 3.1 percent this year, but slow marginally in 2016. The same trend holds for Canada. WTI prices continued to drift further away from Brent, the global benchmark. Brent, now in the May contract, lost 1.2 percent from Tuesday's close to sell for $52.85 per barrel in early Wednesday trading. The low 2015 mark for Brent was around $45 in mid-January.
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