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Crude oil moves towards $70/barrel

15 December 2009 07:00 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Oil recouped some of the losses from its longest losing streak in eight years as investors viewed a drop below $70 a barrel as a buying opportunity, Bloomberg reported.
Crude rose from its lowest in more than two months amid falling industrial output in Europe and the smallest improvement this year in consumer confidence in Japan, the third-largest oil-consuming country.
Crude oil for January delivery gained as much as 40 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $69.91 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $69.83 at 11:45 a.m. in Singapore. Yesterday, the contract fell 36 cents to $69.51, the lowest settlement since Sept. 29. Prices have gained 57 percent this year after tumbling 54 percent in 2008.

European industrial output dropped for the first time in six months in October, led by a slump in consumer goods. European employment declined in the third quarter. The Tankan business confidence index in Japan showed large companies planned deeper spending cuts to protect earnings under threat from the yen, which climbed to a 14-month high against the dollar in November.
U.S. oil inventories probably fell 2 million barrels last week from 336.1 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 4, based on the median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, all of whom predicted a decline. Supplies are 4.8 percent higher than a year ago.
Refinery utilization probably increased by 0.4 percentage point to 81.5 percent, the survey showed.
Brent crude oil for January settlement traded at $72.05 a barrel, up 16 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 11.05 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract gained 1 cent to $71.89 a barrel.