Investing.com – Crude oil futures held on to gains on Thursday, after government data showed U.S. crude supplies declined unexpectedly last week and after a report showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to an almost four-year low last week.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD101.22 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, gaining 0.42%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.5% to trade at a one-week high of USD102.23 a barrel.
Crude prices traded at USD101.20 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels in the week ended January 13, confounding expectations for a 2.9 million barrel increase. U.S. crude supplies rose by 5.0 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 331.2 million barrels as of last week, remaining in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.7 million barrels, above expectations for a 2.4 million barrel gain, after rising by 3.6 million barrels in the preceding week.
Crude prices received a lift earlier after a report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to the lowest level since April 2008.
Weekly applications fell by 50,000 to 352,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted figure in more than six years.
However, gains remained in check after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index worsened by 3.0 points to 7.3 in January from November’s reading of 10.3. Analysts had expected the index to improve by 0.7 points to 11.0 in January.
Meanwhile, oil traders continued to monitor ongoing talks between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the country’s creditors aimed at restructuring the country’s debt would result in a breakthrough.
Greece needs to secure an agreement on restructuring its debt in order to secure new bailout funds and avert a default when a EUR14.4 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
Also Thursday, auctions of Spanish and French government encountered solid investor demand, easing concerns over the ability of indebted euro zone nations to fund themselves, following Standard & Poor’s mass downgrades of euro zone nation’s last week.
Meanwhile, oil traders continued to monitor tension between Iran and the West after the country’s foreign minister warned its neighbors against delivering additional oil to world markets to compensate for Iranian exports if they are hit by sanctions.
European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet January 23 to decide on proposed sanctions on Iran’s oil imports. Reports surfaced Wednesday that the EU embargo on Iranian oil was expected take effect on July 1.
Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report Wednesday that, "If tensions escalate into production disruptions, prices are likely to surge materially higher, with the sustainability of the higher price dependent on the duration and magnitude of production disruption."
Iran is the world's fourth largest oil producer, pumping nearly 5% of the world's oil in 2010. The threat of a major supply disruption from the country has helped support oil prices in recent weeks.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery rose 0.21% to trade at USD110.89 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD9.67 a barrel.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD101.22 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, gaining 0.42%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.5% to trade at a one-week high of USD102.23 a barrel.
Crude prices traded at USD101.20 prior to the release of the Energy Information Administration data.
The U.S. EIA said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 3.4 million barrels in the week ended January 13, confounding expectations for a 2.9 million barrel increase. U.S. crude supplies rose by 5.0 million barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 331.2 million barrels as of last week, remaining in the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
Total motor gasoline inventories increased by 3.7 million barrels, above expectations for a 2.4 million barrel gain, after rising by 3.6 million barrels in the preceding week.
Crude prices received a lift earlier after a report showed that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell to the lowest level since April 2008.
Weekly applications fell by 50,000 to 352,000, the biggest drop in the seasonally adjusted figure in more than six years.
However, gains remained in check after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index worsened by 3.0 points to 7.3 in January from November’s reading of 10.3. Analysts had expected the index to improve by 0.7 points to 11.0 in January.
Meanwhile, oil traders continued to monitor ongoing talks between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the country’s creditors aimed at restructuring the country’s debt would result in a breakthrough.
Greece needs to secure an agreement on restructuring its debt in order to secure new bailout funds and avert a default when a EUR14.4 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
Also Thursday, auctions of Spanish and French government encountered solid investor demand, easing concerns over the ability of indebted euro zone nations to fund themselves, following Standard & Poor’s mass downgrades of euro zone nation’s last week.
Meanwhile, oil traders continued to monitor tension between Iran and the West after the country’s foreign minister warned its neighbors against delivering additional oil to world markets to compensate for Iranian exports if they are hit by sanctions.
European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to meet January 23 to decide on proposed sanctions on Iran’s oil imports. Reports surfaced Wednesday that the EU embargo on Iranian oil was expected take effect on July 1.
Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report Wednesday that, "If tensions escalate into production disruptions, prices are likely to surge materially higher, with the sustainability of the higher price dependent on the duration and magnitude of production disruption."
Iran is the world's fourth largest oil producer, pumping nearly 5% of the world's oil in 2010. The threat of a major supply disruption from the country has helped support oil prices in recent weeks.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery rose 0.21% to trade at USD110.89 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD9.67 a barrel.