By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Crude oil rebounded from a 2013 low in choppy trade on Monday, as production outages in Libya stoked supply fears, while a stronger dollar and Chinese data added pressure.
Crude oil for April delivery CLJ3 +0.14% inched 9 cents higher, or 0.1%, to $90.77 a barrel, recovering a bit after the contract settled at the lowest level this year on Friday on the back of disappointing data from China.
Chinese data was also a factor for oil investors on Monday, after the country’s official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index reportedly fell to 54.5 in February from 56.2 in January, according to a statement released on Sunday. China is a major consumer of oil products and any indication that growth might be slowing in the world’s second largest economy tend to weigh on oil prices.
A firmer dollar further added pressure. The ICE dollar index DXY +0.05% rose to 82.32 from 82.265 on Friday. See: Yen rises against rivals; euro back above $1.30
Oil, however, got a lift from tensions in Libya, where crude production near Zawara was halted over the weekend due to fights between two rival militia forces, according to media reports citing Al Jazeera television. Bloomberg News further reported that oil-production facilities weren’t damaged in the clash, but that it was unclear when production would resume.
Elsewhere in the energy complex, most contracts were on the rise. Gasoline for April delivery RBJ3 +0.58% gained 0.2% to $3.13 a gallon, while heating oil for the same month HOJ3 +0.42% added 0.3% to $2.94 a gallon.
April natural gas NGJ13 -0.06% , however, dropped 0.3% to $3.45 per million British thermal units.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.
