Oil rebounds above $82 as some Europe flights resume
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters): Oil rose past $82 Tuesday, rebounding from three-week lows as jet fuel demand increased, with European planes taking back to the skies after a threat from ash spewed by a volcano in Iceland receded.
Flights from large parts of Europe are set to resume under a deal agreed by the European Union to free up airspace closed after the volcano erupted last week. The disruption cut global jet fuel use by about 20 per cent in the past few days.
US crude for May delivery rose as high as $82.38 and was up 74 cents at $82.19 a barrel by 3:24 p.m. ET, after Citigroup reported its best results since 2007 Monday, raising investor optimism about corporate earnings and helping allay risk aversion.
In the previous two trading sessions, oil fell almost 5 per cent because of the flight ban and after US government action against Goldman Sachs soured risk appetite.
"The market reacted to the disruptions to air traffic in a knee-jerk fashion, but now flights are increasing, especially from southern Europe and there is a big push to try to allow more," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp
"Although the Goldman Sachs issue has of course changed the sentiment of the market, it really doesn't change the fundamentals.
Flights from large parts of Europe are set to resume under a deal agreed by the European Union to free up airspace closed after the volcano erupted last week. The disruption cut global jet fuel use by about 20 per cent in the past few days.
US crude for May delivery rose as high as $82.38 and was up 74 cents at $82.19 a barrel by 3:24 p.m. ET, after Citigroup reported its best results since 2007 Monday, raising investor optimism about corporate earnings and helping allay risk aversion.
In the previous two trading sessions, oil fell almost 5 per cent because of the flight ban and after US government action against Goldman Sachs soured risk appetite.
"The market reacted to the disruptions to air traffic in a knee-jerk fashion, but now flights are increasing, especially from southern Europe and there is a big push to try to allow more," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp
"Although the Goldman Sachs issue has of course changed the sentiment of the market, it really doesn't change the fundamentals.