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Oil finishes higher on EIA supply report
Source: Agencies |
January 5, 2013, Saturday
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THE price of oil finished higher yesterday after the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported a much bigger drop in the nation's crude supplies than analysts expected.
After trading lower much of the day, benchmark crude for February delivery closed up 17 cents at US$93.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The EIA report said crude supplies fell by 11.1 million barrels, or 3 percent, last week. Analysts expected a drop of just a million barrels. Oil supplies shrank as crude imports fell off by almost a million barrels a day last week. At the same time, supplies at the crucial hub for domestic crude at Cushing, Okla., stayed up at near-record levels. Overall US crude inventories are about 9 percent above year-ago levels.
There were also some encouraging economic reports yesterday that raised hopes for higher oil demand.
The Labor Department reported US employers added 155,000 jobs in December, a steady gain that shows hiring held up during tense negotiations to resolve the fiscal cliff issue. The solid job growth wasn't enough to push down the unemployment rate, however, which remained at 7.8 percent last month.
Also, the Institute for Supply Management said US service firms' activity expanded in December by the most in nearly a year, driven by a jump in new orders and hiring. The index measures growth in industries that cover 90 percent of the workforce, including retail, construction, health care and financial services.
Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, finished 83 cents lower at US$111.31 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:
- Wholesale gasoline lost 3 cents to end at US$2.76 a gallon.
- Heating oil fell less than a penny to finish at US$3.02 a gallon.
- Natural gas rose 9 cents to end at US$3.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.
After trading lower much of the day, benchmark crude for February delivery closed up 17 cents at US$93.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The EIA report said crude supplies fell by 11.1 million barrels, or 3 percent, last week. Analysts expected a drop of just a million barrels. Oil supplies shrank as crude imports fell off by almost a million barrels a day last week. At the same time, supplies at the crucial hub for domestic crude at Cushing, Okla., stayed up at near-record levels. Overall US crude inventories are about 9 percent above year-ago levels.
There were also some encouraging economic reports yesterday that raised hopes for higher oil demand.
The Labor Department reported US employers added 155,000 jobs in December, a steady gain that shows hiring held up during tense negotiations to resolve the fiscal cliff issue. The solid job growth wasn't enough to push down the unemployment rate, however, which remained at 7.8 percent last month.
Also, the Institute for Supply Management said US service firms' activity expanded in December by the most in nearly a year, driven by a jump in new orders and hiring. The index measures growth in industries that cover 90 percent of the workforce, including retail, construction, health care and financial services.
Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, finished 83 cents lower at US$111.31 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:
- Wholesale gasoline lost 3 cents to end at US$2.76 a gallon.
- Heating oil fell less than a penny to finish at US$3.02 a gallon.
- Natural gas rose 9 cents to end at US$3.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.
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