NEW YORK, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures seesawed
near unchanged on Thursday as rising inventories and slumping
demand provided pressure, even as improved equities markets and
growing expectations OPEC will meet in November to address
plummeting oil prices provided support.
The U.S. Energy Information's petroleum inventory report on
Wednesday showed crude oil and gasoline supplies rose last week
and that demand was well below year-ago levels. [EIA/S]
"Crude and products futures are little changed overnight,
despite a slight improvement in global equities markets,"
Addison Armstrong, analyst at Tradition Energy, wrote in a
research note.
"As long as the oil market stays above yesterday's ($86.05)
low, there's a chance for further upside recovery," said Tom
Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc.
PRICES
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:45 a.m. EDT
(1337 GMT), November crude CLX8 was up 8 cents, or 0.09
percent, at $89.03 a barrel, trading from $87.32 to $89.82.
Wednesday's low at $86.05 was the lowest since $85.82 was
struck on Dec. 6, 2007.
* In London, November Brent LCOX8 was up 30 cents, or
0.36 percent, at $84.66 a barrel, trading from $82.90 to
$85.07.
* NYMEX November RBOB RBX8 rose 2.10 cents, or 1.03
percent, to $2.0508 per gallon, trading $2.0030 to $2.0690.
* NYMEX November heating oil HOX8 fell 2.10 cents, or
0.84 percent, to $2.4735 per gallon, trading from $2.4503 to
$2.4962.
* The heating oil crack spread <0#CL-HO=R> stood at $14.75
a barrel, and the RBOB crack spread <0#RB-CL=R> remained in
negative territory at minus $2.87.
TECHNICALS
NYMEX crude technical support/resistance: $86.05/$91.80
10-day/20-day moving average: $96.51/$99.34
NYMEX heating oil: $2.4155/$2.53
NYMEX RBOB: $1.9875/$2.1315
MARKET NEWS
* The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless
benefits fell last week. [ID:nN09391922]
* U.S. stocks opened higher as a stronger-than-expected profit
from IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) suggested that the credit turmoil is not
stifling all business demand. [.N]
* Iran's oil minister said OPEC will review oil market
conditions at a mid-November meeting. [ID:nDAH944654]
* OPEC is likely to hold an emergency meeting on or near Nov.
18, OPEC sources said on Thursday. [ID:nWLB2295]
* The euro strengthened against the dollar, while both
currencies were stronger versus a broadly weaker yen. [USD/]
* The U.S. Energy Information Administration's natural gas
storage report is due at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). Supplies
were expected to be up 86 billion cubic feet.
* For a list of top energy news stories, click [TOP/O]
(Reporting by Robert Gibbons; Editing by Walter Bagley)
