Oil jumps above $88 in Asia as US stockpiles fall
Friday, 12 November 2010
BANGKOK, Nov 11 (AP): Oil prices jumped above $88 a barrel in Asia Thursday, boosted by news that US crude and gasoline stockpiles declined last week in a sign of improving demand for fuel.
Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 59 cents at $88.40 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the NewYork Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.09 to settle to $87.81 Wednesday.
US commercial crude inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels to 364.9 million barrels for the week ending Nov 5, the Energy Department said Wednesday.
The amount of oil in storage remains above the average for this time of year, yet the oil price is now at its highest level since October 2008, when the global financial crisis was taking hold.
Oil prices have risen about 11 per cent this year, while crude supplies have increased by 11.5 per cent.
The government also said gasoline inventories declined by 1.9 million barrels to 210.3 million barrels while demand over the past four weeks was up slightly, averaging 9.1 million barrels a day. That's an increase of 1.8 per cent from the year earlier period.
Oil prices have climbed steadily in recent weeks because the dollar has weakened against other currencies. That's largely because of the Federal Reserve's decision to pour $600 billion into a bond-buying programme to stimulate the US economy.
Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 59 cents at $88.40 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the NewYork Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.09 to settle to $87.81 Wednesday.
US commercial crude inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels to 364.9 million barrels for the week ending Nov 5, the Energy Department said Wednesday.
The amount of oil in storage remains above the average for this time of year, yet the oil price is now at its highest level since October 2008, when the global financial crisis was taking hold.
Oil prices have risen about 11 per cent this year, while crude supplies have increased by 11.5 per cent.
The government also said gasoline inventories declined by 1.9 million barrels to 210.3 million barrels while demand over the past four weeks was up slightly, averaging 9.1 million barrels a day. That's an increase of 1.8 per cent from the year earlier period.
Oil prices have climbed steadily in recent weeks because the dollar has weakened against other currencies. That's largely because of the Federal Reserve's decision to pour $600 billion into a bond-buying programme to stimulate the US economy.