Oil advanced after the fewest number of Americans in four years filed first-time applications for unemployment benefits and on concern that tension between Syria and Turkey will disrupt shipments from the Middle East.
Futures rose as much as 1.9 percent as Labor Department figures showed that claims for jobless benefits fell to 339,000 last week, the lowest level since February 2008. Turkey seized cargo on a Syrian passenger plane forced to land yesterday. The Energy Department will report today that U.S. oil supplies gained 1.5 million barrels last week, a Bloomberg survey showed.
“The jobless numbers gave the market another push higher,” said Addison Armstrong, director of market research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “The forced landing of the Syrian plane by Turkey opens a new front in the tensions between the countries, which is supportive for the market.”
Crude oil for November delivery rose $1.57, or 1.7 percent, to $92.82 a barrel at 10:47 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 8.2 percent from this time last year.
Brent oil for November settlement climbed $1.44, or 1.3 percent, to $115.77 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark touched a $23.51-a- barrel premium to West Texas Intermediate oil traded in New York, the highest intraday level since Oct. 21, 2011, according to Bloomberg calculations of exchange data.
Applications for benefits dropped 30,000 in the week ended Oct. 6, according to the Labor Department. Economists forecast 370,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. One state accounted for most of the plunge in claims, a department spokesman said as the data were issued to the press. The breakdown by state will show up in next week’s report.
The U.S. consumed 18.8 million barrels a day of oil in 2011, or 21 percent of the world’s total, according to BP Plc (BP/)’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
Forced Landing
Turkish F-16 jets forced the airplane traveling from Moscow to Damascus to land after intelligence reports said it was carrying cargo banned by civil-aviation rules, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday.
There have been six days of artillery exchanges across the border between Turkey and Syria triggered by the deaths of five Turkish civilians when a mortar shell landed in a frontier village on Oct. 3. The following day, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received authorization from parliament to send troops into Syria if necessary.
The Middle East pumped 27.7 million barrels of oil a day last year, about 33 percent of world output, according to BP.
U.S. Supplies
U.S. gasoline supplies probably climbed 250,000 barrels in the week ended Oct. 5, according to the median of 11 analyst estimates in the Bloomberg survey. Inventories of distillate fuel, a category that includes diesel and heating oil, probably fell 1 million barrels.
The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 11 a.m. in Washington. It’s being published a day late this week because of the Oct. 8 Columbus Day holiday.
The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that crude oil inventories rose 1.65 million barrels last week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
