NYMEX-Oil climbs higher on Middle East supply stress

by **Cals** Thu 15 Aug 2013, 09:18

NYMEX-Oil climbs higher on Middle East supply stress
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Thursday, 15 August 2013 08:33

TOKYO (Aug 15): U.S. crude futures rose early on Thursday, adding to the previous day's gains, when escalating violence in Egypt, concerns of supply disruptions in Libya, and a decline in U.S. petroleum stockpiles boosted the contract price.

FUNDAMENTALS

* NYMEX crude for September delivery was up 36 cents at $107.21 a barrel by 0011 GMT, after settling up 2 cents on Wednesday, hovering around a five-week high.

* London Brent crude for September delivery was up 24 cents at $110.44 a barrel, after finishing 38 cents higher on Wednesday.

* Traders are watching the situation in Egpyt, home to the Suez Canal, an important supply route for Middle East oil, after Egyptian security forces crushed the protest camps of thousands of supporters of the deposed Islamist president on Wednesday, shooting almost 200 of them dead in the bloodiest day in decades.

* So far the canal has not been impacted by the violence, shipping sources have said.

* Libya's crude oil output, much of which has been paralyzed for more than two weeks by labour unrest, has fallen again as new problems appeared at oilfields, the government said on Wednesday.

* U.S. crude oil stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma fell 1.36 million barrels last week to an 17-month low, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed on Wednesday, as pipeline bottlenecks helped move larger supplies of crude to refineries that have been running at high capacity rates.

MARKETS NEWS

* The dollar was at a standstill on Thursday, hamstrung by uncertainty on when the Federal Reserve might start trimming its stimulus, while the euro and sterling drew support from better economic news at home.

* Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average opened down 1.5 percent on Thursday, after overnight weakness in Wall Street soured the mood, while the summer lull is expected to limit trading.

* The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index rose 0.7 percent on Wednesday as signs of tame inflation boosted precious metals, strong Chinese data lifted industrial metals and supply disruptions fears supported oil.

DATA/EVENTS

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

- 0830 U.K. Retail Sales for July

- 1215 U.S. St. Louis Federal Reserve President Speaks

- 1230 U.S. U.S. CPI/CORE CPI for July

- 1230 U.S. Real Earnings for July

- 1230 U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims

- 1315 U.S. Industrial Production and Cap Use for July

- 1400 U.S. Home Builders Index for August. - Reuters