By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures on Thursday hovered near their lowest level in about a month, with weekly U.S. oil inventory and jobless data in the pipeline as cuts in global growth estimates dampened the outlook for energy demand.
Crude for July delivery CLN3 -0.39% rose 10 cents, or 0.1%, to $93.23 a barrel in electronic trade, a minor gain after prices on Wednesday tumbled 2% to $93.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The loss marked the lowest price settlement for a most-active contract since May 1, according to FactSet data.
The drop in the previous session came as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reduced its forecast for global growth for this year and 2014, and the International Monetary Fund lowered its growth estimate for China to 7.75% for 2013 and 2014. The IMF had previously projected growth of 8% this year and 8.2% next year.
A second reading on U.S. growth during the first quarter was slated for release later Thursday by the Labor Department.
The cuts in growth estimates by the OECD and the IMF highlighted worries about demand for energy ahead of this Friday’s meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, with members considering output targets.
Demand worries also drew attention Wednesday with an unexpected rise in U.S. petroleum supplies.
The American Petroleum Institute said crude supplies jumped 4.4 million barrels in the week ended May 24. Analysts polled by Platts were, on average, looking for a decrease of 1.5 million barrels.
Investors were awaiting the more closely watched U.S. Energy Information Administration supply report, due later Thursday at 11 a.m. U.S. Eastern time.
Energy demand signals may also be found in weekly jobless claims data due Thursday from the U.S. Labor Department. New applications for unemployment benefits likely rose 1,000 to 341,000, according to a MarketWatch survey.
The EIA’s report on weekly natural-gas supplies is due to be released at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. Prestige Economics is looking for a climb of 85 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas for July delivery NGM13 -0.62% on Thursday was unchanged at $4.18 per million British thermal units.
June gasoline RBM3 -0.45% was also unchanged at $2.80 a gallon, and June heating oil held at $2.87 a gallon. The June futures contracts were slated to expire at the Nymex close on Friday.
