BLBG:Crude Oil Trades Near Two-Week High Amid Supply Risks, Euro Debt Concern
Oil traded near a two-week high in New York as risks to Middle East supplies from the clash between Iran and western governments were balanced by concern that demand will be curbed by Europe’s sovereign debt turmoil.
Futures advanced as much as 0.5 percent after the U.K. closed its embassy in Iran, OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer, after an attack by protesters. Crude pared gains as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the ECB’s program of buying government bonds “can only be limited,” before debt sales in France and Spain.
Crude for January delivery was at $100.54 a barrel, up 18 cents, at 8:58 a.m. London time, after rising as high as $100.90. Brent oil for January settlement was down 20 cents at $110.32 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract’s premium to West Texas Intermediate narrowed to $9.78 from $10.16 yesterday.
The U.S. Energy Department said yesterday oil stockpiles rose 3.9 million barrels last week, compared with a forecast increase of 50,000 barrels in a Bloomberg survey.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net
