Oil futures rose Friday, snapping a five-session losing streak, following bigger-than-expected growth in Chinese industrial production and the International Energy Agency's warning of continued supply outages in Libya and Iraq.
Oil futures rose Friday, snapping a five-session losing streak,
following bigger-than-expected growth in Chinese industrial production and the
International Energy Agency's warning of continued supply outages in Libya and
Iraq.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery recently traded up $1.29, or 1.3%, at
$104.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. ICE North Sea Brent Crude
Oil for September delivery traded 38 cents higher at $107.06 a barrel.
China
's
National Bureau of Statistics said Friday that industrial output rose 9.7% on
year in July, from 8.9% in June. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had
expected 9% growth in July.
China
is
the world's second-largest oil consumer after the
U.S.
, but
over the past few months traders have been concerned that growth was slowing
down. On Thursday, Chinese customs authorities said the country imported 26.11
million metric tons of crude oil in July, 20% more than the same period last
year.
"This is the second day of good data out of
China
,"
said Gene McGillian, broker and analyst at Tradition Energy. He said this
suggested that
China
"may return to its position as one of the drivers of oil prices."
Crude-oil futures also were buoyed after the IEA, which represents some of the
world's largest oil consumers, said it expected demand for the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil at 29.8 million barrels a day in 2013,
an increase of 200,000 barrels a day from its previous forecast.
In its monthly report, the IEA also said "continued supply outages in
Iraq
and
Libya
...may
reduce the group's output in coming months." Tensions in
Libya
and
Iraq
have
already resulted in a decline in OPEC's output by 170,000 barrels a day in
July.
Analysts said the crude-oil market was stabilizing Friday after prices fell
4.2% in the past five sessions. Prices were weighed down by an increase in
gasoline inventories last week. Concerns about the longevity of the U.S.
Federal Reserve's $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program also held investors'
attention after a voting member of the Fed's board didn't rule out that the
central bank could begin reducing purchases at its September policy meeting.
Traders closely watch Fed commentary as the central bank's stimulus measures
have helped prop up economic growth in the
U.S.
There
are fears that a reduction in bond purchases could result in lower demand for
oil.
"Price swings over a week's time will continue to be generated by rapidly
changing perceptions of a shift in Fed stimulus," said Jim Ritterbusch,
head of oil-trading advisory Ritterbusch & Associates, in a note.
Front-month September reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, recently
traded 1.62 cents higher at $2.8738 a gallon. September ultra-low sulfur diesel
heating oil recently traded 0.32 cent higher at $2.9603 a gallon.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:58
Τρι, 24 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 19:54
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:32
Τετ, 18 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 18:27
Τρι, 17 Σεπτεμβρίου 2024 - 20:01