Petroleum products post stronger percentage gains than crude
By Claudia Assis and Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures advanced Monday, tracking gains in U.S. equities, and prices for energy products such as gasoline also were on the rise as disruptions due to a strike against refineries in France became more severe.
Crude for November delivery (CLX10 82.37, +1.12, +1.38%) gained 83 cents, or 1%, to $82.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Stocks posted gains after a wobbly open, helped along by Citigroup’s third-quarter financial results and by an upturn in sentiment reported among U.S. home builders. See more on trading in U.S. stocks to start the week.
“It looks like the [oil] market is taking its cues from the equities market and Citigroup turned that market around,” said Kyle Cooper, managing director of IAF Advisors in Houston. “This is a market that really wants to be enthusiastic.”
Gasoline for November delivery (RBX10 2.11, -0.04, -1.64%) added 3 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.14 a gallon. November heating oil (HOX10 2.27, +0.03, +1.54%) rose 3 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.26 a gallon.
Prices for petroleum products were being helped by the French strike, Cooper said. A strike that started more than 20 days ago at a key oil port in southern France has affected several French refineries.
There were reports of panic buying over the weekend and at least one airport has canceled flights due to fuel problems, according to analyst reports.
Crude’s one-month climb had lost some steam in recent sessions. The November contract lost $1.44 to finish at $81.25 a barrel on Friday.
Traders earlier Monday grappled with a report showing the first drop in U.S. industrial production in six months. The Federal Reserve said production fell 0.2% in September. Read more about industrial production.
Also Monday, BP PLC (BP 41.33, +0.71, +1.74%) and its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, said the British oil company would sell its energy holdings in Venezuela and Vietnam to TNK for $1.8 billion. The deal is part of a series of asset sales by BP to help pay for the damages from the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
In other oil-industry news, Halliburton Co. (HAL 33.69, -2.13, -5.95%) reported net income that more than doubled in the third quarter. The Houston company is the first of the major oil-services firms to release third-quarter results. Read more on Halliburton’s shares trading lower in aftermath of improved quarterly profit and revenue.
