By Polya Lesova and Robert Daniel, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures rose Thursday, rebounding from their sharp drop in the previous session, as the Syrian-Turkish conflict raised some concerns about supply from the Middle East.
Crude for November delivery CLX2 +1.20% climbed $1.23, or 1.4%, to $89.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The gains come after oil prices slumped $3.75 a barrel, or 4.1%, on Wednesday, pressured by technical selling and worries about demand. See: Oil prices end at two-month low.
Hostilities between Syria and Turkey commanded the spotlight.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Turkish parliament backed a measure to give the prime minister broad power to send troops into Syria.
Turkey shelled targets inside Syria for a second day Thursday after forces loyal to the Syrian regime hit a Turkish town the previous day and killed five people, according to the Journal.
“The hostilities between Syria and Turkey could reinforce supplies fears, as a number of pipelines cross the region,” Commerzbank analysts wrote in a note to clients. “We therefore envisage prices recovering provided that the general market environment does not deteriorate after today’s [European Central Bank] meeting.”
The European Central Bank left its key lending rate unchanged at 0.75%.
In a news conference, ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank’s bond-buying plan has helped ease tensions in euro-zone financial markets. He also reiterated that the euro is “irreversible.” Read: ECB rates on hold; Draghi in spotlight
In the U.S., data showed that initial jobless claims rose to 367,000 last week from 363,000, slightly less than economists expected.
At 2 p.m. Eastern, the Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes from its September policy meeting when it launched a third round of asset purchases, known as quantitative easing, in an effort to stimulate economic growth and reduce the U.S. unemployment rate. See: Five things to watch in the Fed minutes.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, November gasoline futures RBX2 +2.74% rose 8 cents to $2.88 a gallon, while November heating oil HOX2 +1.42% climbed by 5 cents to $3.11 a gallon.
Natural-gas futures for November delivery NGX12 +0.41% gained 3 cents to $3.42 per million British thermal units in choppy trade after the release of supply data.
The Energy Information Administration said natural-gas inventories rose by 77 billion cubic feet in the week ended Sept. 28. Analysts polled by Platts expected a climb of between 70 billion cubic feet and 74 billion.
After the report, natural-gas prices initially declined, but then quickly recovered.
“It’s not clear from the net storage figure just whether heating demand fell short of expectations or whether there may have been an increase in imports form Canada, but it definitely points to a weaker supply/demand balance,” said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures.
Polya Lesova is MarketWatch's New York deputy bureau chief.
Robert Daniel is MarketWatch's Middle East bureau chief, based in Tel Aviv.
