Crude Steady At $97.75 As Taper Worries Offset China

Crude oil found steady around $97.75 a barrel on Monday as the prospects of a stronger US economy could determine the Federal Reserve to start curbing its bond buying program at its next meeting on December 17-18, preventing oil prices from rising further.

The US data released on Friday showed the jobless rate fell last month to its lowest since November 2008, while in China trade figures on Sunday showed exports rose well above forecasts in November, rising 12.7%, adding to signs that economic growth is stabilizing.

“The US and China are two big growth engines of the world economy, so any improvements in terms of their economies is going to reflect well in future crude oil demand”, said Ben Le Brun from OptionsXpress in Sydney.

While China is due to release its industrial output data on Tuesday which could make oil hold its gains if the outcome is strong, the focus on the Fed's upcoming meeting is expected to dominate sentiment in the coming days.

Today, weather-related production outages may also support prices; producers in the North Sea cut output and moved staff from some platforms as a major storm blasted toward Europe, which could be the worst storm to hit the continent in years.

Cold weather may also cripple oil and gas production in the United States which may keep oil prices well supported. Meanwhile, Transcanada Corp said the Keystone pipeline would be in service by next month.

- WTI crude oil futures for January is trading around $ 97.77 a barrel after rising $0.11

- Brent futures for January settlement is trading around $ 111.68 a barrel after rising $0.07

- Natural gas is trading at $ 4.171 per cubic feet after rising 1.39%

- Gasoline is trading at $ 2.7349 per cubic feet after rising 0.29%

- Heating oil (diesel) is trading at $ 3.062 a gallon after rising 0.18%