IPE Brent crude futures little changed amid thin trading

London (Platts)--29Sep2005

Brent crude futures on London's International Petroleum Exchange,
were trading at near parity to Wednesday's settle Thursday after rising
by almost $1/bbl as the market shrugged of bearish US stocks data. 
    At 1044 GMT the November IPE Brent crude futures contract was pegged at
$63.99/bbl, up a mere 6cts. Trading was rangebound with a high of $64.21/bbl
and a low of $63.78/bbl as it seems yesterday's US weekly statistics have been
completely factored in. Brent closed 96cts higher Wednesday despite the US
stock data, after US' EIA said it expected as much as 15% of all US refining
capacity to be out of service for at least another two weeks. 
     London traders do not expect any activity until the open-outcry NYMEX pit
opens at 1400 GMT. "November Brent has found a level around $64/bbl that it
quite likes so I can't see it moving much until either WTI crude is pit-traded
or some sort of news comes in," one trader said. Trading volumes have also
been described as very low with only 241 contracts traded between 0900 and
1000 GMT compared with 345 on Monday.
     The timing spreads between November and December crude have tightened
slightly to -78cts from -85 on Sep 27. Additionally, front-month Brent crude
is trading at a discount to front-month NYMEX WTI by $2.52/bbl, a level not
seen since late February 2005. 
     Otherwise, IPE Gasoil futures were slightly down with the October
contract down $5/mt to $635.50/mt, 1055 GMT. The second and third month
contracts have flipped into backwardation for the first since the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.

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