Nymex Oil rises above $104/bbl on large U.S. crude draw

Nymex Oil rises above $104/bbl on large U.S. crude draw
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Wednesday, 10 July 2013 08:52

TOKYO (July 10): U.S. crude futures jumped more than $1 to as high as $104.79 a barrel on Wednesday after American Petroleum Institute data showed a much sharper-than-expected fall in U.S. crude stocks.

The API data, which was released after Tuesday's settlement, showed U.S. crude stocks fell by 9 million barrels last week, compared with a decline of 3.1 million barrels in a Reuters poll of analysts.

FUNDAMENTALS

* NYMEX crude for August delivery was up 75 cents at $104.28 a barrel by 0039 GMT, after settling up 39 cents at $103.53 on Tuesday.

* London Brent crude for August delivery was up 1 cent at $107.82 a barrel, after settling up 38 cents.

* Fears that violence in Egypt could ignite conflict in the broader Middle East, which pumps a third of the world's oil, continued to lend support to oil prices.

* Libya's major Sharara oilfield will resume operations, and the flow of crude from Kirkuk in Iraq to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey will resume in two to three days after being interrupted for weeks due to a pipeline leak.

* API data also showed a surprise 3.5 million barrel draw in U.S. gasoline inventories and a larger-than-expected build of 2.8 million barrels.

The market is awaiting the U.S. government data due out later in the day.

* The U.S. Energy Information Administration slightly tightened its 2014 oil demand outlook but left the balance of the year unchanged.

MARKETS NEWS

* U.S. stocks rose for the fourth session in a row on Tuesday as investors bet that companies will be able to surpass the low bar set for earnings season, leaving room for better-than-expected results that could drive the rally further.

* The U.S. dollar rallied to three-year highs against major currencies on Tuesday, extending a bullish run on expectations the Federal Reserve will reduce stimulus at a time when other major central banks are likely to ease further.

DATA/EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Wednesday: (Time in GMT)

- N/A China Exports

- N/A China Imports

- 0645 France Industrial output

- 0800 Italy Industrial output

- 1400 U.S. Wholesale inventories

- 1430 U.S. EIA weekly oil data

- 1800 FOMC releases minutes from June 18-19 meeting

- 2010 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks. - Reuters