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Oil closes above US$100 on upbeat economic outlook

Source: Agencies | December 28, 2013, Saturday | Online Edition

Oil prices closed above US$100 a barrel yesterday, the first time it crossed that threshold since October.

Benchmark US oil for February delivery rose 77 cents to close at US$100.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price of oil got a boost from a drop in applications for unemployment benefits, the latest sign of recovery in the US job market, and expectations of a decline in crude stockpiles. Optimism about the US economic recovery lifted expectations for the country's energy demand.

The last time oil traded above US$100 a barrel was October 21. The last day it closed above US$100 a barrel was October 18. During the abridged holiday trading week, oil gained US$1.

A report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration released yesterday showed that US crude stockpiles fell 4.7 million barrels last week to 367.6 million barrels. The supply fell in the last week from 23.4 days' worth of oil to 22.8 days.

Meanwhile, violence in South Sudan has stoked concerns about the African nation's oil production.

"Violence flaring in South Sudan threatens to disrupt crude output in the region and with ongoing outages in Libya, Brent prices may gain further support from a tightening fundamental outlook," said analysts in a note from Sucden Financial Research.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose 20 cents to US$112.18 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline was down 0.4 cents to US$2.82 a gallon.

— Heating oil was rose 3 cents to US$3.12 per gallon.

— Natural gas lost 3 cents to US$4.41 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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