Oil Rallies in Asian Trade; Brent Holds Above $111/Bbl
By Eric Yep
Crude-oil futures were in positive territory in Asian hours on Thursday with U.S. markets focused on falling stocks and clashes in South Sudan continuing to support Brent.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $98.70 a barrel at 0431 GMT--up $0.28 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.30 to $111.10 a barrel.
Nymex crude ended 2013 with a gain of 7.19% to $98.42 a barrel--which means the U.S. benchmark has closed higher for 10 of the past 12 years. Brent crude ended last year with a fall of 0.28% to $110.80 a barrel--snapping a four-year winning streak and marking 2013 as its worst year since 2008.
U.S. oil inventories are expected to have fallen by 2.2 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 27, according to a survey of analysts by The Wall Street Journal.
Oil inventories fell by 5.7 million barrels last week, according to data after markets closed on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute. The more closely watched survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due on Friday.
"While it's possible that the market may just ride out this period of declining U.S. stocks and then drop once they begin rising again we also see potential for prices to make more of the supportive inventory trend in 2014--particularly if the trend carries over the first few weeks of the year," Citi Futures energy specialist Tim Evans said in a note.
Fighting continued on Wednesday in South Sudan even as representatives are in Ethiopia for talks. Two weeks of violence threatens the country's oil exports.
Investors also considered a mix of economic data from the U.S. and China--the world's two largest oil consumers. Good macroeconomic releases from the U.S. suggest greater appetite" for oil, Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures said.
But Asian financial markets are under pressure thanks to signs of weakness in Chinese manufacturing--limiting gains in oil prices.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for February--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 75 points to $2.7934 a gallon while February heating oil traded at $3.0651--1 point lower.
ICE gasoil for January changed hands at $943.50 a metric ton--down $0.75 from Wednesday's settlement.
Write to Eric Yep at eric.yep@wsj.com
By Eric Yep
Crude-oil futures were in positive territory in Asian hours on Thursday with U.S. markets focused on falling stocks and clashes in South Sudan continuing to support Brent.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $98.70 a barrel at 0431 GMT--up $0.28 in the Globex electronic session. February Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.30 to $111.10 a barrel.
Nymex crude ended 2013 with a gain of 7.19% to $98.42 a barrel--which means the U.S. benchmark has closed higher for 10 of the past 12 years. Brent crude ended last year with a fall of 0.28% to $110.80 a barrel--snapping a four-year winning streak and marking 2013 as its worst year since 2008.
U.S. oil inventories are expected to have fallen by 2.2 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 27, according to a survey of analysts by The Wall Street Journal.
Oil inventories fell by 5.7 million barrels last week, according to data after markets closed on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute. The more closely watched survey from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due on Friday.
"While it's possible that the market may just ride out this period of declining U.S. stocks and then drop once they begin rising again we also see potential for prices to make more of the supportive inventory trend in 2014--particularly if the trend carries over the first few weeks of the year," Citi Futures energy specialist Tim Evans said in a note.
Fighting continued on Wednesday in South Sudan even as representatives are in Ethiopia for talks. Two weeks of violence threatens the country's oil exports.
Investors also considered a mix of economic data from the U.S. and China--the world's two largest oil consumers. Good macroeconomic releases from the U.S. suggest greater appetite" for oil, Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures said.
But Asian financial markets are under pressure thanks to signs of weakness in Chinese manufacturing--limiting gains in oil prices.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for February--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 75 points to $2.7934 a gallon while February heating oil traded at $3.0651--1 point lower.
ICE gasoil for January changed hands at $943.50 a metric ton--down $0.75 from Wednesday's settlement.
Write to Eric Yep at eric.yep@wsj.com
