Better Fill up today

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Dec-09 Crude settled at $79.60,up $1.47 on the day, December-09 Natural Gas settled at $4.922,up $0.098 on the day.

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Dec-09 Crude is trading at $80.425, up $0.825, Dec-09 Natural Gas is trading at $4.985, up $0.063.

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Crude Rises a Third Day on Economic Data, Weaker U.S. Dollar

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose a third day as a weaker U.S. dollar heightened the hedging appeal of commodities and economic data reinforced confidence in the global recovery.

Crude inventories fell 3.28 million barrels last week to 336.2 million, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said yesterday. The U.S. Energy Department will release its own weekly supply report later today. Factory orders in the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer, rose for the fifth time in six months in September, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

"If you look at the pure data we've received, these have been positive," said Tobias Merath, a commodity analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Zurich. "The dollar has been weaker, and sentiment across commodities has improved, so we're testing the upper end of the $75 to $80 range."

Crude oil for December delivery rose as much as $1.10, or 1.4 percent, to $80.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $80.66 a barrel at 1:30 p.m. London time. Oil has gained 80 percent this year. Futures climbed 1.9 percent yesterday after India's central bank bought 200 metric tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund.

"Commodities overall last night seemed to take the lead from the strong move in gold prices," Toby Hassall, a research analyst with CWA Global Markets in Sydney, said by phone. "Oil probably tapped some strength from the economic data as well."

Inventory Forecasts

The U.S. Energy Department is scheduled to release its supply report for the week ended Oct. 30 today at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Analysts forecast that stockpiles increased by 1.5 million barrels, according to the median of 16 responses in a survey conducted by Bloomberg News.

Oil-supply totals from the API and Energy Department moved in the same direction 75 percent of the time in the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Today's report is expected to show that distillate fuel inventories, including heating oil and diesel, probably declined 1 million barrels. Gasoline supplies probably increased 400,000 barrels, the survey showed.

Brent crude for December settlement was at $79 a barrel, up 89 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:29 p.m. London time. The contract increased $1.56, or 2 percent, to end yesterday's session at $78.11 a barrel.

The Federal Open Market Committee may indicate there's no need to raise interest rates when it concludes a two-day meeting later today, economists said. The dollar weakened to $1.4793 per euro from $1.4724 yesterday.



Last Updated: November 4, 2009 08:39 EST

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Dec-09 Crude settled at $80.40,up $0.80 on the day, December-09 Natural Gas settled at $4.725,down $0.197 on the day.

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Dec-09 Crude is trading at $80.20, down $0.20, Dec-09 Natural Gas is trading at $4.695, down $0.03.

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Oil Snaps Three Days of Gains Before U.S. Unemployment Report



By Grant Smith and Ann Koh

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil declined, snapping three days of gains, before a report forecast to show that U.S. unemployment rose in October.

Oil dropped from a one-week high as concern about financial company earnings sent European stocks lower, with the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index losing 0.9 percent. U.S. supplies of middle distillates such as heating oil and diesel were 29 percent above their five-year average after falling less than expected last week, Energy Department data showed.

R20;Fundamentals are dire, and nothing is likely to help too much in the medium-term" said Johannes Benigni, chief executive officer of JBC Energy GmbH in Vienna. "It's very difficult to see a sufficiently cold winter that would bring middle distillate stocks down. I see the market oscillating till the end of the year around $70."

Crude oil for December delivery fell as much as 82 cents, or 1 percent, to $79.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $79.78 a barrel at 9:10 a.m. London time. Futures have gained 79 percent this year.

Yesterday, the contract rose to $81.06, the highest since Oct. 26, after an Energy Department report showed total crude supplies unexpectedly declined. Inventories fell 3.94 million barrels last week, the report said, compared with a 1.5 million- barrel increase forecast by a Bloomberg News survey.

Stockpiles of middle distillates are 29 percent above their five-year seasonal norm even after declining 378,000 barrels to 167.4 million barrels, the Energy Department said. A decline of 1 millions barrels was forecast by analysts.

Unemployment Data

The Labor Department on Nov. 6 will report that the unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent in October, from 9.8 percent the previous month, as companies cut another 175,000 jobs, according to the median forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

R20;Based on fundamentals, we should be in the $50s for oil, not $80s," said Clarence Chu, a trader at options dealer Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. "Until the U.S. starts creating jobs, I wouldn't say the economy is on the road to recovery, because jobs change how people spend money on goods."

Brent crude oil for December settlement declined as much as 86 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $78.03 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract traded at $78.21 at 9:09 a.m. London time.

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Dec-09 Crude settled at $79.62,down $0.78 on the day, December-09 Natural Gas settled at $4.782,up $0.057 on the day.

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Dec-09 Crude is trading at $79.60, down $0.02, Dec-09 Natural Gas is trading at $4.725, down $0.057.

Our neighborhood station has Regular at $2.38.

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Dec-09 Crude is trading at $78.45, up $1.02, Dec-09 Natural Gas is trading at $4.585, down $0.010.

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Crude Oil Rises as Hurricane Ida Disrupts Output, Dollar Drops



By Alexander Kwiatkowski

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose from a one-week low as Hurricane Ida entered the Gulf of Mexico, forcing BP Plc and Chevron Corp. to cut output.

Crude climbed above $78 a barrel as companies evacuated workers in the Gulf of Mexico, an area that accounts for 27 percent of U.S. crude production and 15 percent of natural gas output. The dollar declined against 14 of its 16 major counterparts, making commodities more attractive as alternative investments.

R20;After wreaking havoc in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Hurricane Ida is now threatening oil and gas production and oil refineries in the U.S. Gulf," said Christopher Bellew, senior broker at Bache Commodities in London. "That and a weak dollar is behind the higher prices."

Crude oil for December delivery rose as much as $1.52, or 2 percent, to $78.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $78.57 at 10:30 a.m. in London.

The contract dropped $2.19, or 2.8 percent, to $77.43 on Nov. 6, the lowest settlement since Oct. 30, after a report showed unemployment in the U.S., the world's biggest oil user, climbed to 10.2 percent, the highest in 26 years.

Oil also gained after the EFE news service reported Petroleos Mexicanos, MexicoR17;s state oil company, shut 90 wells at onshore fields in the western states of Veracruz and Tabasco because of storms and flooding.

Ida, Gulf Production

Oil reached a one-year high of $82 on Oct. 21, as rising equities boosted investor confidence and a falling dollar encouraged buying of physical assets.

The dollar fell against the euro today after the Group of 20 governments agreed to keep stimulus measures and remained silent on the currency's decline this year. Investors purchase commodities including crude as an inflation hedge as the currency drops.


R20;People are nervous about the dollar, it is trading close to $1.50," versus the euro, said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "It is the main reason for the move in commodities today."

The dollar fell to $1.4995 per euro as of 10:12 a.m. in London from $1.4847 on Nov. 6.

IdaR17;s maximum sustained winds increased to about 105 miles (169 kilometers) per hour, from 100 mph today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory. Ida's center was located about 340 miles east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River at 12 a.m. and moving north-northwest at 15 mph, the center said.

LOOP Halted

The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, or LOOP, stopped taking loadings from tankers at about noon yesterday because of rough seas, said Barb Hestermann, a spokeswoman. Deliveries to refiners are being met through crude stored onshore. The system can off-take 1 million barrels a day, or about 12 percent of U.S. imports.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, said it has shut some of its Gulf output and moved away some "non-essential personnel."

BP has started "some precautionary curtailment of production," according to a recorded statement on its hotline.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil company, said its operations in the Gulf of Mexico are normal and it's monitoring the weather, according to an e-mail from spokesman David Eglinton. Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it's "securing" offshore facilities though drilling isn't affected.

Brent crude for December settlement rose as much as $1.50, or 2 percent, to $77.37 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $76.90 at 10:30 a.m. local time.

Saudi Increases

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. will supply full contracted oil shipments to several refiners in Asia for the first time in more than a year, refinery officials said today.

The company, also known as Saudi Aramco, will provide the cargoes in December under long-term contracts, according to a Bloomberg News survey of refinery officials in Japan, South Korea, China and Thailand, who asked not to be identified because of confidential agreements. The refiners had been receiving cuts of between 10 percent