“Crude headed for a seventh weekly advance in New York, the longest run of gains in almost four years, amid signs of global economic growth and concern that oil facilities in North Africa are vulnerable to militant attacks.
West Texas Intermediate crude advanced as much as 0.6 percent as German business confidence rose for a third month in January. The European Central Bank said 278 banks will hand back 137.2 billion euros ($184.4 billion) of its three-year loans next week at the first opportunity for early repayment. The U.K., German and Dutch governments yesterday urged their citizens to leave the Libyan city of Benghazi.
“Global risk sentiment remains fairly upbeat,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, a commodities analyst at VTB Capital in London, who predicts WTI will trade from $93 to $97 a barrel over the next month.
Crude for March delivery gained as much as 54 cents to $96.49 a barrel and was at $96.38 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:30 p.m. London time. Futures climbed 0.8 percent to $95.95 yesterday and are up 0.9 percent this week. A seventh weekly gain would be the longest rising streak since April 2009. The average volume of all futures traded today was 18 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for March settlement gained as much as 56 cents to $113.84 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, the highest since Oct. 17. The European benchmark contract was at a premium of $17.35 after contracting to $15.16 on Jan. 17, the narrowest in almost six months.
