BLBG: Oil Trades Near a Three-Week High After Decline in U.S. Crude Stockpiles
Oil traded near a three-week high as equities climbed and an industry report showed a decline in U.S. crude inventories.
Oil rose as much as 0.4 percent earlier as Asian stocks gained on stronger-than-estimated earnings at Apple Inc., and a report from the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude supplies declined last week. The Energy Department will release its weekly inventory report today.
“We’ve got the U.S. reporting season underway at the moment, it’s looking better than expected,” Mark Pervan, a senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Melbourne. “Oil’s been a bit choppy recently, tracking sideways. A lot of it depends on the macro data in the U.S.”
Crude oil for September delivery was at $77.63 a barrel, up 5 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:52 p.m. in Singapore. Yesterday, the contract added 68 cents, or 0.9 percent, to close at $77.58 a barrel. Oil has dropped 2.3 percent this year.
The contract for August expired yesterday, up 90 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $77.44 a barrel, the highest settlement since June 28.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed at 115.58 as of 3:51 p.m. in Tokyo. The dollar was at $1.2898 per euro at 2:55 p.m. in Singapore from $1.2880 in New York yesterday.
“The equity markets remain relatively strong and that’s where the optimism lies with investors,” Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, said by telephone. “There is a very mixed economic outlook at the moment.”
Storm Approaching
Prices also gained yesterday after the National Hurricane Center said a weather system over Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic has a 60 percent chance of becoming the second named tropical cyclone of the Atlantic Hurricane season.
The Gulf of Mexico accounts for about 31 percent of U.S. oil output and 10 percent of its natural-gas production and is home to seven of the 10 busiest ports, according to the Energy Department. States along the Gulf are home to 43 percent of operable U.S. refining capacity.
U.S. crude stockpiles fell 241,000 barrels to 353.3 million last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute. The Energy Department may say supplies declined 1.2 million barrels, according to the median of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News before the release of its report at 10:30 a.m. today in Washington.
The institute collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey.
Crude has been limited by the inability for prices to close above the 200-day moving average price of $77.55 a barrel, analysts at The Schork Group Inc. said in a report today.
“We are concerned that the bulls could not settle above the 200-day moving average,” the report said. “This marks the fourth time in the last five days that intraday trading has peaked above $77.55 but giving up all those gains to settle below the moving average.”
Brent crude oil for September settlement was at $76.25 a barrel, up 3 cents, at 2:55 p.m. Singapore time on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Yesterday it gained 60 cents, or 0.8 percent, to end the session at $76.22 a barrel.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net
