BLBG: Crude Oil Futures Rise in New York, Trade Near Two-Week High
By Grant Smith
June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to trade near a two-week high in New York as the dollar weakened and the International Energy Agency raised its demand forecast.
Worldwide oil use in 2010 will rise by 1.7 million barrels a day, or 2 percent, to a record 86.4 million barrels, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly market report today. The U.S. currency slipped for a third day against the euro, making dollar-priced assets more attractive for hedging against inflation.
“That overall demand figure from the IEA is fairly upbeat,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst with VTB Capital in London. “There has been a trend of speculators closing out their long positions in oil, but we believe that will slow down and prices will stabilize.”
Crude for July delivery rose as much as 75 cents, or 1 percent, to $75.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and traded for $74.70 as of 1:03 p.m. London time. Earlier it fell 0.9 percent to $73.72. Brent crude for July delivery was at $74.38 a barrel, up 11 cents, on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange.
New York crude traded above London prices for a second day, having surpassed Brent yesterday for the first time since April 9 after stockpiles at the U.S. storage hub in Oklahoma narrowed. On May 28 prices in New York rose to a two-week high of $75.72 a barrel.
Chinese customs data showed oil imports last month grew by 4.4 percent from a year earlier to 17.84 million metric tons, or about 4.36 million barrels a day. May exports from the nation, the world’s second-largest energy consumer, jumped 48.5 percent.
Non-OPEC Production
The IEA bolstered its projection for supplies from outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries by 65,000 barrels a day.
Non-OPEC producers, responsible for about 60 percent of world supplies, will provide an average 52.3 million barrels of oil per day this year, or 800,000 barrels more than in 2009, according to the IEA report. The revision is based on higher output from the North Sea.
The euro gained against the dollar and yen as economic data showing growth in the Asia-Pacific region boosted demand for currencies that are perceived as higher-yielding. It traded for $1.2035 as of 1:04 p.m. London time.
Yesterday oil futures in New York surged 3.3 percent after a government report showed that U.S. crude inventories declined last week more than analysts had forecast.
Oil supplies fell 1.83 million barrels to 361.4 million in the week ended June 4, the Energy Department reported yesterday, the lowest level since April. Supplies were forecast to decline by 900,000 barrels, based on the median estimate of 17 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.
To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net
