After U.S. President Barak Obama won support from two opposition lawmakers for a military strike on Syria, worries of a possible disruption in oil supplies from the Middle East were renewed, pushing crude above $108 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that if there was clear proof that Bashar al-Assad’s regime used chemical weapons against civilians, his country "will be ready to act in the most decisive and serious way."
- Crude oil is trading around $108.14 a barrel after falling $0.40.
- Brent is trading around $115.69 a barrel after rising $0.01.
Markets will be watching the outcome of the Energy Information Administration report tomorrow, as crude inventories in the world’s largest oil consumer probably fell 360 million barrels last week. The American Petroleum Institute will release separate stockpile data today.
Investors are also awaiting key jobs data from the United States on Friday for clues on when the Federal Reserve will start cutting its massive bond-buying program, as well as the G-20 meeting and ECB’s and BoE’s monetary policy decisions on Thursday.
- Natural gas is trading at $3.68 per cubic feet after rising 0.38%.
- Gasoline is trading at $2.8514 per cubic feet after falling 0.46%.
- Heating oil (diesel) is trading at $3.1375 a gallon after falling 0.34%.