Crude oil stopped its advance on Thursday after China’s manufacturing unexpectedly contracted in January; prices were almost flat as of this writing as investors await the Energy Information Administration (EIA) data later today for a direction.
China’s HSBC PMI for January fell to 49.6, the lowest level in six months, compared with estimates of 50.3 and lower than the 50.5 previous, adding to worries that fuel demand may slow in the world’s second biggest oil consumer.
Also contributing to the halt in gains was the American Petroleum Institute report yesterday that showed Crude inventories expanded by 4.86 million barrels last week while gasoline stockpiles rose by 1.1 million and distillates fell by 2.29 million.
Investors are now waiting the EIA report to gauge the outlook for demand in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer. Crude stockpiles probably increased last week as refiners reduced processing, which may impose further downside pressures on prices
Markets are also watching the progress in talks about Syria that began in Geneva on Wednesday amid hopes a solution to end the crisis will be found, which may ease the tensions from the Middle East and end the killing spree.
Elsewhere, TransCanada Corp began delivering crude through a major new pipeline from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast, which may prevent crude prices from falling further.
- WTI crude oil futures for March is trading around $ 96.57 a barrel after falling $0.16
- Brent futures for March settlement is trading around $ 107.95 a barrel after falling $0.32
- Natural gas is trading at $ 4.752 per cubic feet after rising 1.34%
- Gasoline is trading at $ 2.6652 per cubic feet after falling 0.44%
- Heating oil (diesel) is trading at $ 3.0395 a gallon after rising 0.05%