WASHINGTON (Alliance News) - The price of crude oil was steady near its three-week high Friday morning after official inventories data revealed robust demand for distillates.
Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) futures for March delivery, the most actively traded contact, eased USD0.22 to USD97.10 a barrel. Yesterday, oil moved up to settle at a three-week high after data from the US Energy Information Administration showed distillate stockpiles to have declined more than expected last week, not withstanding a better than expected rise in crude and gasoline inventories.
Thursday during trading hours, the EIA said US crude oil inventories to have climbed 1 million barrels for the week ended January 17, while analysts expected an increase of 0.6 million barrels. Gasoline stockpile rose 2.1 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, dropped by 3.2 million barrels. Analysts anticipated gasoline stockpiles to rise 1.7 million barrels with distillate inventories expected to decline by 1.2 million barrels.
This morning the US dollar was lingering near its one-month low versus the euro, the yen and the Swiss franc, while trading around a three-year low against sterling.
In economic news, UK mortgage approvals increased less than expected in December, figures released by the British Bankers' Association said. The number of mortgages approved for house purchases rose to 46,521 from 45,394 in November. The figure was less than an expected 47,300.
