New York - Oil extended its advance as industry data
showed US crude stockpiles declined last week, trimming an inventory overhang.
February futures rose as much as 0.9 percent in New York
after climbing 0.5 percent on Tuesday. Crude inventories dropped by 4.15 million
barrels, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That compares
with a forecast 2.5 million-barrel decrease expected in Wednesday’s Energy
Information Administration report. Libya reopened two of its biggest oil fields
and is set to load the first crude cargo in two years from its largest export
terminal.
Oil has traded near $50 a barrel since the Organisation
of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed November 30 to cut output for the first
time in eight years. Non-OPEC producers including Russia will also trim supply.
US crude inventories, at the highest seasonal level since the EIA began
compiling weekly data in 1982, are projected to decrease for a fifth week.
“Tightening US crude inventories is supportive for oil,”
said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in
Sydney. “That looks like it’ll continue and that’s bullish for prices.
Returning Libyan supply could be an issue for the market.”
West Texas Intermediate for February delivery gained as
much as 46 cents to $53.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was
at $53.72 at 8:02 a.m. in London. The January contract expired Tuesday after
adding 11 cents to $52.23 a barrel. Total volume traded was about 40 percent
below the 100-day average.
US stockpiles
Brent for February settlement rose as much as 47 cents,
or 0.9 percent, to $55.82 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe
exchange. The contract climbed 43 cents to $55.35 on Tuesday. The global
benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.05 to WTI.
See also: OPEC’s oil cuts deal shifts focus to compliance
Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point
for WTI and the biggest US oil-storage hub, increased by 609 000 barrels last
week, the API reported Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the data.