Related News
Oil jumps 12 pct on US inventory drop
Source: Agencies |
February 20, 2009, Friday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
OIL prices jumped more than 12 percent to near US$39 a barrel yesterday after US government data showed an unexpected fall in crude inventories last week due to lower imports.
The draw snapped a seven-week streak of crude builds in the world's top consumer, where the slumping economy has dragged down fuel demand.
US crude futures for March delivery, which expires on Friday, rose US$4.24 to US$38.86 a barrel by 14:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT) after touching US$39.85 earlier. April delivery contracts traded up US$2.40 to US$39.81 a barrel.
London Brent for April delivery gained US$2.18 to US$41.73 a barrel.
"Crude stocks made a surprise fall here as imports weredown and refinery activity was up," said Amanda Kurzendoerfer, commodity analyst at Summit Energy. "We'll have to see if the import decline is the start of a trend as OPEC is really doing a lot to carry out output cuts."
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to a series of deep output cuts in the second half of 2008 to counter the steep drop in oil prices from record highs over US$147 a barrel in July.
The drop in demand has helped push up US oil stocks by around 20 percent since September. The EIA data showed gasoline and distillate demand rising slightly over the four-week period ending Feb. 13, compared with year-ago levels.
The gains in oil prices came after a poor economic data hit the US stock market.
The number of US workers drawing unemployment aid jumped to a record high in early February, according to data on Thursday that highlighted the deterioration in the labor market as the 13-month recession deepened.
Japan and South Korea struggled to revive economies hit by collapsing exports, Russian unemployment soared and Britain's budget deficit reached a record high.
The draw snapped a seven-week streak of crude builds in the world's top consumer, where the slumping economy has dragged down fuel demand.
US crude futures for March delivery, which expires on Friday, rose US$4.24 to US$38.86 a barrel by 14:31 p.m. EST (1931 GMT) after touching US$39.85 earlier. April delivery contracts traded up US$2.40 to US$39.81 a barrel.
London Brent for April delivery gained US$2.18 to US$41.73 a barrel.
"Crude stocks made a surprise fall here as imports weredown and refinery activity was up," said Amanda Kurzendoerfer, commodity analyst at Summit Energy. "We'll have to see if the import decline is the start of a trend as OPEC is really doing a lot to carry out output cuts."
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to a series of deep output cuts in the second half of 2008 to counter the steep drop in oil prices from record highs over US$147 a barrel in July.
The drop in demand has helped push up US oil stocks by around 20 percent since September. The EIA data showed gasoline and distillate demand rising slightly over the four-week period ending Feb. 13, compared with year-ago levels.
The gains in oil prices came after a poor economic data hit the US stock market.
The number of US workers drawing unemployment aid jumped to a record high in early February, according to data on Thursday that highlighted the deterioration in the labor market as the 13-month recession deepened.
Japan and South Korea struggled to revive economies hit by collapsing exports, Russian unemployment soared and Britain's budget deficit reached a record high.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
