Investing.com - Crude oil futures plummeted in U.S. trading on Friday as the northeast U.S. continued to recover in wake of Superstorm Sandy, wiping out concerns that supply closures at refineries would be long lasting.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD85.14 a barrel on Friday, down 2.24%, off from a session high of USD87.05 and up from an earlier session low of USD85.04.
Seven refineries carrying a combined capacity of 1.29 million barrels a day had shut or reduced operations because of Sandy in recent days.
Their eventual return to operations, however, will add crude to a market that is awash in supply, which pushed prices down on Friday.
Elsewhere, U.S. government temporarily waived the Jones Act, a move that will allow foreign tankers to haul fuels from Gulf Coast refineries the storm-stricken northeastern U.S.
The Jones Act requires ships moving goods from port to port within the U.S. to be domestically built and crewed.
The market shrugged off better-than-expected jobs data.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed earlier that the U.S. economy added 171,000 jobs in October, beating out analysts' calls for a gain of around 125,000.
The headline unemployment rate rose to 7.9% from 7.8% in September.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery were down 2.38% and trading at USD105.59 a barrel, up USD20.45 from its U.S. counterpart.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December traded at USD85.14 a barrel on Friday, down 2.24%, off from a session high of USD87.05 and up from an earlier session low of USD85.04.
Seven refineries carrying a combined capacity of 1.29 million barrels a day had shut or reduced operations because of Sandy in recent days.
Their eventual return to operations, however, will add crude to a market that is awash in supply, which pushed prices down on Friday.
Elsewhere, U.S. government temporarily waived the Jones Act, a move that will allow foreign tankers to haul fuels from Gulf Coast refineries the storm-stricken northeastern U.S.
The Jones Act requires ships moving goods from port to port within the U.S. to be domestically built and crewed.
The market shrugged off better-than-expected jobs data.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed earlier that the U.S. economy added 171,000 jobs in October, beating out analysts' calls for a gain of around 125,000.
The headline unemployment rate rose to 7.9% from 7.8% in September.
On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for December delivery were down 2.38% and trading at USD105.59 a barrel, up USD20.45 from its U.S. counterpart.