Oil traded near a five-week high in New York after the Mehr news agency said Iran put stop shipments to Europe and the U.S. crude stocks fell for the first time in four weeks. Futures are little changed after climbing 1.1 percent yesterday. Iran crude exports stopped to France and the Netherlands and threatened transfer to four other European countries to end the state-run Mehr reported, citing an unknown official of the National Iranian Oil Co. U.S. stocks fell 171,000 barrels last week, data from the Energy Information Administration showed. They were expected to rise 1.5 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
“The market is certainly looking at what happens in Iran, but I do not think it is ready to be built in that premium escalation,” David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone today. “The U.S. inventory fall in a relatively short-term effect on prices.”
Oil for March delivery was at $ 101.56 per barrel, down 24 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:51 p.m. Singapore time. The contract yesterday rose $ 1.06 to $ 101.80, its highest close since January 10. The prices are 20 percent higher than a year ago.
Brent crude oil for April settlement rose 10 cents to $ 119.03 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark contract of the premium to New York-traded West Texas Intermediate for the same month was $ 17.16 compared to $ 16.79 yesterday. It reached a record $ 27.88 on Oct. 14.
Conflicting messages
The state-run Fars news agency gave a conflicting account to the Mehr report said Iran warned the six European Union countries without cutting exports to one of them. An Iranian Oil Ministry official, to be identified, said yesterday that he was unable to reach a decision to suspend shipments to confirm. The EU also said it was not immediately able to confirm to a halt.
“If military action against Iran is taken, it is a huge risk for the oil and to the fear premium in oil prices continue to increase,” Mark Pervan, head of commodity research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd Melbourne, said in a statement today. Data from the U.S. Energy Department “was surprisingly supportive, with an unexpected drop in crude stocks.”
Gasoline stocks rose 400,000 barrels last week, figures from the EIA showed. They were expected to climb 700,000 barrels, according to the median of 13 analyst estimates in the Bloomberg News survey. Distillate supplies, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, fell 2.9 million barrels compared with an estimate for a 1.1 million barrels fall.
Oil in New York technical resistance along the upper Bollinger Band, the neighborhood where futures halted yesterday in advance, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This indicator is about $ 102.66 per barrel today. Sales orders tend to be near chart resistance levels are clustered.
source:reuters
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