Oil was headed for its first weekly gain in three in New York before an employment report forecast to show that the U.S. gained jobs last month. Futures rose as much as 0.5 percent, extending the biggest two-day rally since February. The European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday announced a bond- purchase program to tackle the debt crisis. U.S. crude stockpiles declined last week to the lowest level since January, the Energy Department said Oct. 5. Eni SpA said there was no serious damage done to its Elephant oil field in Libya. “The oil market will focus on today’s payroll number as well as the recent upward trend in prices,” Tom Pawlicki, a Chicago-based analyst at MF Global Holdings Ltd., said today in a note. “Support will come from the potential for European bank recapitalization, ENI’s oilfield issues in Libya, and from Wednesday’s inventory figure.” Crude for November delivery gained as much as 40 cent to $82.99 a barrel, and was at $82.95 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:20 p.m. in Singapore. The contract yesterday climbed $2.91 to $82.59, for a two-day gain of 9.1 percent, the biggest since Feb. 22-23. Prices are up 4.7 percent this week, the first weekly gain since the period ended Sept. 16. Brent oil for November settlement rose 0.2 percent to $105.91 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $23.09 to New York crude, compared with a record of $26.87 on Sept. 6. OPEC Exports New York crude’s moving average convergence-divergence, an indicator of trading momentum, remained below zero on the weekly chart, even as prices increased, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Investors typically look for positive momentum to sustain buying of contracts. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will export about 22.72 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Oct. 22, little changed from the 22.74 million a day shipped in the month to Sept. 24, Halifax, England-based Oil Movements said yesterday in a report. Shipments typically rise at this time of year as refiners prepare to boost production of winter fuels. The figures exclude Ecuador and Angola. U.S. crude inventories fell 4.7 million barrels to 336.3 million last week, a report from the Energy Department showed. An increase of 1.5 million barrels was expected, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Jobs Report “Payroll data tonight is going to be really important,” Jonathan Barratt, a managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, said by telephone today. “That’ll dictate the move.” U.S. employment rose by 55,000 workers last month, according to the median estimate of 91 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before today’s report. The jobless rate has been at 9 percent or higher since April. Eni is “not aware of any heavy damage” to the Elephant field, a company press officer said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Mellitah Oil & Gas BV, which operates some Libyan fields for Eni and the country’s National Oil Corp., said Oct. 2 pipelines and wells at the field were in “ok” condition. Mellitah Chairman Najmi Karim said an initial assessment only showed damage to worker accommodations and the theft of some equipment such as portable generators. Fighting in Libya reduced the availability of light, sweet crude, or oil with low density and sulfur content. The country’s output fell to 45,000 barrels a day in August, according to Bloomberg estimates. The North African nation pumped 100,000 barrels a day last month. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Gordon in Hong Kong at pgordon6@bloomberg.net

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