Wednesday, September 7, 2011

NYMEX-Crude ends at 5-week high; eyes data, weather


NYMEX-Crude ends at 5-week high; eyes data, weather

* U.S. Gulf disturbance may become cyclone in 48 hours-NHC * U.S. crude inventories seen lower last week - poll * Coming up: API oil data, 4:30 p.m. EDT, Wednesday NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures


rebounded sharply on Wednesday, ending at a five-week high on

forecasts that inventory data would show a drawdown in crude

stocks last week and concerns that more stormy weather could

hit the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The dollar fell as appetite returned for riskier assets,

and Wall Street rallied after three days of losses as Europe's

debt concerns eased. Both were supportive for crude oil

futures, traders said. U.S. crude stockpiles may have fallen 1.9 million barrels

last week, a preliminary Reuters poll of analysts showed ahead

of weekly inventory reports. Distillate stocks were forecast 600,000 barrels lower and

gasoline stocks were projected down 2.0 million barrels.

[EIA/S] Tropical Storm Maria formed in the Atlantic while Hurricane

Katia churned up the surf along the beaches of Bermuda and the

eastern United States, the U.S. National Hurricane Center

said. More important to the oil industry, however, was a new

disturbance located in the southwest Gulf of Mexico. NHC

forecasters gave it a 60 percent chance of developing into a

tropical cyclone in the next few days. Computer models projecting its path varied widely. Some

took it west over Mexico while at least one model took it

northeast toward the Louisiana-Mississippi coast. At least 516,451 barrels per day, or 36.9 percent, of U.S.

oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remained offline as of

midday Wednesday after Tropical Storm Lee, down from 60.5

percent shut on Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy

Management said. Some 958.4 million cubic feet per day of natural gas

output, or 18.1 percent, remained shut in, down from 41.6

percent on Tuesday, the agency said.

FUNDAMENTALS * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for October

delivery CLV1 settled at $89.34 a barrel, rising $3.32, or

3.86 percent, the highest close since Aug. 3's $91.93 on a

continuous price chart. The day's gain was the the biggest

one-day percentage rise since Aug. 10, when prices rose 4.53

percent. The contract traded from $86.15 to $89.74. * U.S. crude's discount against Brent crude narrowed to

$26.46 at the close, from $26.87 on Tuesday.

* U.S. retail gasoline demand fell last week by 4.2 percent

year-on-year and 5.9 percent versus the previous week,

MasterCard said in a weekly report.

* The U.S. Energy Information Administration left its 2011

world oil demand growth unchanged in its monthly forecast and

cut its 2012 oil demand growth estimate by 250,000 bpd to 1.39

million barrels per day.

* Mexico's largest oil refinery shut down on Tuesday after

a power outage but Pemex said it expected operations

to resume by the end of the day.

* Iran has been importing four to five cargoes of gasoline

per month, with most of it supplied by China.

* Libya's new leaders sent envoys to neighboring Niger to

try to prevent Muammar Gaddafi and his entourage evading

justice by fleeing across a desert frontier toward friendly

African states.

* Led by financial stocks, Wall Street rallied after a

three-day losing streak as Germany's top court smoothed the way

for Berlin's participation in bailout packages that could ease

Europe's debt crisis.

* In late trading, the U.S. dollar was down 0.6 percent

against a basket of major currencies. .DXY The euro rallied

as worries about euro zone sovereign debt abated.

* Copper ended nearly 2 percent higher, snapping four days

of losses, as global stock markets rose amid labor disputes at

some big mines.

* Gold fell as much as 4 percent as investors pulled money

from the safe haven to put them in equities, after the German

court ruling. UPCOMING DATA/EVENTS

* U.S. weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT),

Thursday.

* U.S. Energy Information Administration oil inventory data

at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday. SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO CHNG CHNG VOL VOL

CLc1 89.34 3.32 3.9% 86.15 89.74 284,820 316,166

CLc2 89.55 3.24 3.8% 86.45 89.94 91,467 63,604

LCOc1 115.80 2.91 2.6% 112.70 116.03 188,151 188,944

RBc1 2.9080 0.0854 3.0% 2.8210 2.9103 31,857 56,161

RBc2 2.8606 0.0818 2.9% 2.7789 2.8623 21,389 30,885

HOc1 3.0756 0.0654 2.2% 3.0096 3.0786 38,281 64,524

HOc2 3.0856 0.0658 2.2% 3.0194 3.0887 19,465 17,503

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME OPEN INTEREST CURRENT Sep 06 30D AVG Sep 06 NET CHNG

CRUDE 575,408 547,932 694,929 1,523,907 -335

RBOB 80,436 119,518 120,141 252,892 1,647

HO 87,718 117,448 119,362 305,373 -3,449

(Reporting by Gene Ramos and Robert Gibbons)

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