Investing.com – Crude oil futures regained strength in thin holiday trade on Thursday, easing off a two-day low as a broadly weaker U.S. dollar and indications of strong U.S. oil demand boosted prices.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD96.75 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 0.6%.
It earlier rose by as much as 0.85% to trade at a daily high of USD96.85 a barrel.
NYMEX Floor trading was to remain closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and electronic transactions would be booked with Friday’s trades for settlement purposes.
Crude’s gains came as the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.4% to trade at 78.99.
Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Meanwhile, weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels last week, blowing past expectations for a 0.5 million barrel decline. It was the biggest supply drop in nine weeks.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 330.8 million barrels as of last week, the lowest level since January 2010, easing concerns over a slowdown in demand form the world’s largest oil consumer.
Crude prices found further support as investors stepped in to the market for bargain buying following Wednesday’s 2% plunge, amid fears over an escalation of violence in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi media outlets reported earlier that two people were killed and three wounded in an exchange of fire between Saudi security forces in the oil-producing Eastern Province.
Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter among OPEC members and produces approximately 8.4 million barrels of oil a day.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery rose 0.8% to trade at USD107.86 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD11.11 a barrel.
Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday that the spread between crude and Brent was likely to widen in the near term following a rapid unwinding in recent weeks, but the reversal of the Seaway pipeline would see it narrow again by the end of 2012.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD96.75 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 0.6%.
It earlier rose by as much as 0.85% to trade at a daily high of USD96.85 a barrel.
NYMEX Floor trading was to remain closed for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and electronic transactions would be booked with Friday’s trades for settlement purposes.
Crude’s gains came as the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.4% to trade at 78.99.
Oil prices typically strengthen when the U.S. currency weakens as the dollar-priced commodity becomes cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Meanwhile, weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 6.2 million barrels last week, blowing past expectations for a 0.5 million barrel decline. It was the biggest supply drop in nine weeks.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 330.8 million barrels as of last week, the lowest level since January 2010, easing concerns over a slowdown in demand form the world’s largest oil consumer.
Crude prices found further support as investors stepped in to the market for bargain buying following Wednesday’s 2% plunge, amid fears over an escalation of violence in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi media outlets reported earlier that two people were killed and three wounded in an exchange of fire between Saudi security forces in the oil-producing Eastern Province.
Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter among OPEC members and produces approximately 8.4 million barrels of oil a day.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for January delivery rose 0.8% to trade at USD107.86 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD11.11 a barrel.
Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday that the spread between crude and Brent was likely to widen in the near term following a rapid unwinding in recent weeks, but the reversal of the Seaway pipeline would see it narrow again by the end of 2012.