Iran supply cutoff denied; EIA data show fall in oil, distillate stocks
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)—Crude-oil futures kept on rallying Wednesday as a weekly government report on supplies showed a surprise decline, and after Italian and Iranian officials denied Tehran had halted oil supplies to European countries.
Crude for March delivery CL2H +0.86% advanced 87 cents, or 0.9%, to $101.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, hovering at its highest since mid-January. It traded as high as $102.54 a barrel earlier.
According to news reports of a Iranian state broadcaster, Iran was cutting off shipments to six European countries to retaliate against an oil embargo and sanctions imposed by the European Union last month.
That drove the spike in oil futures but not too long after, Iranian and Italian officials denied the cutoff move.
Dow Jones Newswires quoted Giulio Terzi, Italy’s foreign minister, as saying Italy’s embassador in Tehran had said the report wasn’t true.
Reuters quoted an Iranian oil ministry spokesman also denying the report and adding any decisions would have to be announced by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Later Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported crude supplies for the week ended Feb. 10 had declined by 200,000 barrels. Analysts polled by Platts had expected crude inventories to rise 1.9 million barrels on the week.
The EIA also said gasoline inventories rose 400,000 barrels, and distillates supplies declined 2.9 million barrels. The analysts surveyed by Platts had expected gasoline inventories up 600,000 barrels and distillates stockpiles down 600,000 barrels.
Gasoline for March delivery RB2H +0.60% rose 2 cents, or 0.6%, to $3 a gallon. March heating oil HO2H +1.34% advanced 4 cents, or 1.4%, to $3.21 per gallon.
March natural gas NG12H -3.08% bucked the trend, off 9 cents, or 3.4%, to $2.45 per million British thermal units. It gained 4.2% the previous session.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
