“Oil rose from the lowest close in almost two months in New York after a European Central Bank official signaled the lender may act to stem the spread of the region’s debt crisis.
Futures gained as much as 0.7 percent. ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure suggested that the bank may revive its bond-purchase program in Spain, pushing up the euro versus the dollar. Crude declined yesterday after an industry report showed U.S. stockpiles rose for a third week. The Energy Department will release its inventory report later today.
“Oil is getting some support from a weaker greenback amid some ECB reassurances,” saidAndrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London. “We also have a general rebound across the board along with equities after losses yesterday, though it seems this may be short-lived.”
Oil for May delivery was at $101.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 50 cents, at 11:33 a.m. London time. The contract yesterday fell 1.4 percent to $101.02, the lowest settlement since Feb. 14. Prices are up 2.7 percent this year.
Brent crude for May settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange traded at $120.12 a barrel, up 25 cents. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $18.55 to New York futures. The spread yesterday shrank 6.7 percent, the most since Feb. 20, to $18.86.”
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