BLBG: Oil Increases for Third Day in New York After Italian Treasury-Bond Sale
Crude oil climbed for a third day in New York as demand for Italy’s debt increased before European finance ministers meet on the credit crisis.
Futures rose as much as 1.1 percent as demand for Italy’s 2014 bonds was 1.5 times the amount on offer, up from 1.35 times at the previous auction. Finance ministers from the 17-member monetary union are preparing to meet in Brussels today to discuss how to boost their bailout fund.
“Everything appears to be swinging on the Italian bond auction,” said Bill O’Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St. Louis. “The good news is that they were able to sell their three-year notes. The bad news is that they had to sell at such a high premium.”
Crude oil for January delivery rose 56 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $98.77 a barrel at 9:18 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed to $99.30 and dropped as low as $97.23 during the session. Prices are up 8.1 percent this year.
Brent oil for January settlement climbed 83 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $109.83 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange.
The U.S. Energy Department may say tomorrow that oil stockpiles rose last week, a Bloomberg News survey showed. The American Petroleum Institute will issue its supply data today.
Inventory Reports
U.S. crude inventories probably climbed 400,000 barrels last week, according to the median of 10 analyst estimates in the Bloomberg News survey. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Washington.
The API will release its inventory report at 4:30 p.m. today in Washington. The API 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.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may keep oil production quotas at current levels when it meets next month, Wilson Pastor, Ecuador’s minister for non-renewable natural resources, said yesterday. The group is scheduled meet Dec. 14 in Vienna.
Venezuela is seeking to maintain current OPEC quotas, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said yesterday. Member countries exceeding the limit should lower their output, he said.
Money managers including hedge funds reduced bullish bets on oil for the week ended Nov. 22, according to data released yesterday by ICE Futures Europe and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net
