BLBG:Oil Trades Near Four-Month Low as Sandy Shuts Refineries
Oil rose from a four-month low in New York as better-than-expected company earnings bolstered confidence that fuel consumption will remain supported.
West Texas Intermediate crude climbed as much as 0.7 percent as European equities advanced after results from BP Plc (BP/) and Deutsche Bank AG beat analyst estimates. Prices fell earlier after refiners reduced operations on the U.S. East Coast because of Atlantic storm Sandy. Phillips 66, Hess Corp. (HES), NuStar Energy LP (NS) and PBF Energy Inc. shut or lowered output prior to Sandy making landfall.
WTI for December delivery increased as much as 54 cents to $86.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and traded for $86.11 at 11:03 a.m. London time. The contract closed at $85.54 yesterday, the lowest since July 10.
Brent for December settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange gained 58 cents to $109.99 a barrel. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $23.88 to the WTI contract. The spread widened for a sixth day yesterday to $23.90, near the most in more than a year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss on sev@bloomberg.net
