Market Close: Sep 24 Up
Sep 24th, 2014 by loren
Crude-oil futures rose Wednesday after weekly inventories data showed an unexpected decline in supplies.
Light, sweet crude futures for November delivery rose $1.24, or 1.4%, to settle at $92.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 10 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $96.95 a barrel. Earlier Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude supplies declined by 4.3 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 19. That contrasted with expectations of an increase of 1 million barrels according to a Platts survey of analysts. Gasoline supplies declined 400,000 barrels, and inventories of distillates, which include heating oil, were up 800,000 barrels, the EIA said. The analysts polled by Platts had expected gasoline inventories to decline 600,000, and distillates stockpiles to increase 160,000 barrels. Late Tuesday, data from the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, also pointed to a decline in inventories, which lent support to New York-traded oil futures from the onset of Wednesday’s session.
For Brent, however, “the combo of weaker global demand fears and signs of stronger supply” had it in check, said Matt Smith, an analyst with Schneider Electric. Some of the pressures on Brent included a weaker-than-expected German business confidence index, which hit its lowest in more than a year, and news Libya’s crude-oil production rose to 900,000 barrels a day with a key field restarting production. Elsewhere in energy markets, gasoline for October delivery rose 3.5 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $2.6638 a gallon. Heating oil for the same month gained half a penny, or 0.2%, to end at $2.6889 a gallon.
Natural gas for October delivery rose 9.5 cents, or 2.5%, to $3.9110 per million British thermal units. The EIA is expected to report its weekly natural-gas supply data on Thursday. Analysts polled by Platts expect an increase between 92 billion cubic feet and 96 bcf for the week ended Sept. 19.