“Oil traded near the highest level in almost four months in New York before reports that may show the economy recovering in the U.S. and as lower temperatures buoy demand for heating fuels.
West Texas Intermediate was little changed after climbing 0.6 percent yesterday. The U.S. East Coast and Midwest will be 5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.8 Celsius) below normal from Jan. 19 to Jan. 23, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. Retail sales probably rose for a second month in December, a Bloomberg News survey of economists predicted before Commerce Department data today.
“Colder weather is helping the energy complex,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, who predicts WTI may remain capped at about $95.60 a barrel. “The global oil market looks evenly balanced.”
Crude for February delivery was at $93.70 a barrel, down 44 cents, in electronic trading on theNew York Mercantile Exchange at 12:55 p.m. London time. The contract increased to $94.14 yesterday, the highest settlement since Sept. 18. Prices dropped 7.1 percent last year.
Brent for February settlement was at $111.58 a barrel, down 30 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The more-active March contract slipped 20 cents to $110.75. The front-month European benchmark contract was at a premium of $17.89 to WTI futures. It settled at $17.08 on Jan. 11, the narrowest since Sept. 19…”
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