MW: Oil stays under pressure; jobs data disappoint
By Carla Mozee, Sara Sjolin and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — Oil futures extended losses on Friday, trading below $93 and poised for their lowest close in two weeks, on fears energy demand could weaken after a hugely disappointing report on U.S. jobs.
Crude-oil futures for May delivery CLK3 -1.06% fell 82 cents, or close to 1%, to $92.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude on Thursday dropped $1.19, or 1.3%, to $93.26 a barrel. It faced a weekly loss of more than 4%, which would mark oil’s first weekly decline in five weeks.
The Labor Department’s monthly jobs report revealed the smallest increase in jobs growth since last June as new hires fell to 88,000 versus expectations for a gain of 190,000, which had already been ratcheted down by economists. Plus nearly half-a-million people stopped looking for work that month.
“The outlook for energy demand will be impaired, as a result. Recently there has been a decent rise in gasoline and diesel demand, both of which will take a hit if employment trends reverse,” said analysts at the Kilduff Report.
Oil has been under pressure since an energy report earlier this week. On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude supplies rose 2.7 million barrels to 388.6 million for the week ended March 29. Analysts polled by Platts had expected an increase of 2.5 million barrels.
That report came after the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday said crude supplies jumped 4.7 million barrels last week.
Among other energy products Friday, gasoline for May delivery RBK3 -0.68% slipped 1 cent to $2.89 a gallon, while heating oil for the same month HOK3 -1.23% fell 3 cents to $2.93 a gallon.
May natural gas NGK13 +2.58% rose 8 cents to $4.03 per million British thermal units.
Natural-gas futures finished Thursday’s session up 1.2%, but they briefly turned lower after the EIA reported a decline of 94 billion cubic feet in U.S. inventories. Analysts polled by Platts had expected a decline between 90 billion cubic feet and 94 billion cubic feet.
Carla Mozee is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter @MWMozee.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid. Follow her on Twitter @MWBarbaraKollmeyer.
