By Ayesha Daya and Gavin Evans
April 5 -- Crude oil surged to the highest level in 17 months after March data showing employers in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, added the most jobs in three years, bolstering optimism that fuel demand will climb.
Oil increased as much as 1.2 percent after the Labor Department reported that payrolls rose by 162,000 last month. Oil also climbed before a report today that may show service industries in the U.S. expanded in March at the fastest pace since 2007, based on a Bloomberg survey of economists.
“Traders were waiting for the March payroll report to come out to see if the trend in the U.S. is still positive,” said Thina Saltvedt, a commodities analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. “It has raised hopes of the need for energy in the market.”
Crude oil for May delivery rose as much as $1.02, or 1.2 percent, to $85.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since Oct. 9, 2008. The contract was at $85.38 at 1:04 p.m. London time.
Futures increased $1.11, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $84.87 on April 1. Prices climbed after reports showed Chinese, European and U.S. manufacturing expanded, while pessimism decreased among Japan’s largest industrial companies.
Oil trading resumed today after the exchange closed April 2 to mark the Good Friday holiday. The Labor Department report published that day showed U.S. payrolls were buoyed by 48,000 temporary workers hired by the government to conduct the census.
Investor Confidence
Oil traded within a range of $68 to $84 a barrel in the six months ended March 30. Prices climbed the past two months as improved investor confidence lifted world equity markets and U.S. refining climbed from a 16-month low.
Still, U.S. crude oil stockpiles have posted nine weekly increases and held 354.2 million barrels in the week ended March 26, which is 6.5 percent higher than the five-year average for the period, the Energy Department said last week.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest state-owned oil company, raised official selling prices for light crude grades for customers in the U.S. and Asia for May, it said yesterday.
Aramco set the price for its Extra Light crude oil for May loadings for U.S. buyers at a premium of $1.35 a barrel over the Argus Sour Crude Index, 40 cents higher than April. The discount for shipments of light-grade crude to the U.S. narrowed 20 cents to 40 cents below ASCI a barrel.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. raised its retroactive March prices more than 5 percent on all grades, to the highest since November, the state-owned producer from the United Arab Emirates capital said today.
Price Floor
“Economic data indexes are getting better and that is supporting crude oil prices,” said Ken Hasegawa, energy trading manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo. “Still, we need time to see quite a strong economic recovery” and prices may struggle above $87 without further evidence of growth, he said.
Prices have established a floor of $75 a barrel, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said April 2 in Caracas. There’s no need for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production and Venezuela seeks a price band between $80 and $100 a barrel, he said.
OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil, slashed output in January of last year to prevent a supply glut. The 12-member group left production quotas unchanged when ministers met in Vienna on March 17.
Brent crude oil for May settlement rose as much as 97 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $84.98 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract was at $84.40 at 1:04 p.m. London time.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=alOJWDJ90Wl0&pid=20601087
April 5 -- Crude oil surged to the highest level in 17 months after March data showing employers in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, added the most jobs in three years, bolstering optimism that fuel demand will climb.
Oil increased as much as 1.2 percent after the Labor Department reported that payrolls rose by 162,000 last month. Oil also climbed before a report today that may show service industries in the U.S. expanded in March at the fastest pace since 2007, based on a Bloomberg survey of economists.
“Traders were waiting for the March payroll report to come out to see if the trend in the U.S. is still positive,” said Thina Saltvedt, a commodities analyst at Nordea Bank AB in Oslo. “It has raised hopes of the need for energy in the market.”
Crude oil for May delivery rose as much as $1.02, or 1.2 percent, to $85.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday price since Oct. 9, 2008. The contract was at $85.38 at 1:04 p.m. London time.
Futures increased $1.11, or 1.3 percent, to settle at $84.87 on April 1. Prices climbed after reports showed Chinese, European and U.S. manufacturing expanded, while pessimism decreased among Japan’s largest industrial companies.
Oil trading resumed today after the exchange closed April 2 to mark the Good Friday holiday. The Labor Department report published that day showed U.S. payrolls were buoyed by 48,000 temporary workers hired by the government to conduct the census.
Investor Confidence
Oil traded within a range of $68 to $84 a barrel in the six months ended March 30. Prices climbed the past two months as improved investor confidence lifted world equity markets and U.S. refining climbed from a 16-month low.
Still, U.S. crude oil stockpiles have posted nine weekly increases and held 354.2 million barrels in the week ended March 26, which is 6.5 percent higher than the five-year average for the period, the Energy Department said last week.
Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest state-owned oil company, raised official selling prices for light crude grades for customers in the U.S. and Asia for May, it said yesterday.
Aramco set the price for its Extra Light crude oil for May loadings for U.S. buyers at a premium of $1.35 a barrel over the Argus Sour Crude Index, 40 cents higher than April. The discount for shipments of light-grade crude to the U.S. narrowed 20 cents to 40 cents below ASCI a barrel.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. raised its retroactive March prices more than 5 percent on all grades, to the highest since November, the state-owned producer from the United Arab Emirates capital said today.
Price Floor
“Economic data indexes are getting better and that is supporting crude oil prices,” said Ken Hasegawa, energy trading manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo. “Still, we need time to see quite a strong economic recovery” and prices may struggle above $87 without further evidence of growth, he said.
Prices have established a floor of $75 a barrel, Venezuela’s Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said April 2 in Caracas. There’s no need for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase production and Venezuela seeks a price band between $80 and $100 a barrel, he said.
OPEC, which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil, slashed output in January of last year to prevent a supply glut. The 12-member group left production quotas unchanged when ministers met in Vienna on March 17.
Brent crude oil for May settlement rose as much as 97 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $84.98 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract was at $84.40 at 1:04 p.m. London time.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=alOJWDJ90Wl0&pid=20601087
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