NYMEX June crude futures led a rapid selloff across the oil complex Friday during mid-morning New York trading.
NYMEX crude fell $3.00 to trade at $99.54/barrel and then continued to drop, while European benchmark ICE June Brent also fell $3.00 to $112.77/b and continued to lose ground.
Meanwhile, products fell sharply across the board, with June RBOB futures down 10 cents to $2.9500/gal. June heating oil also fell 10 cents, trading at $2.9869/gal. Gasoil fell $30 to trade at $958.25/mt.
According to Carl Larry of Oil Outlooks and Opinions, crude prices have little support and could continue to fall.
Crude futures have trended down for the past two days, but the release of US nonfarm payroll data added to the downward pressure on prices.
"Buyers will be found, but right now there is no good reason to say this is the bottom," said Larry.
In addition to the weak employment numbers, Larry pointed to CFTC margin requirements driving length out of the market.
The CME Group was due to raise margin requirements on Monday, but received a 90-day extension form the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, pushing enforcement of the rule out to August 5.
