Oil was little changed in New York asrising U.S. stockpiles and signs that Europe��s economy isworsening put a limit on a weekly advance driven by speculationthat sanctions would curb the supply of crude from Iran.
Futures vacillated between gains and losses after theEnergy Department said U.S. crude stockpiles (DOESCRUD) climbed 2.2 millionbarrels last week. A median decline of 1 million barrels wasforecast in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. Reports todaymay show that European consumer confidence slumped to the lowestlevel in two years and factory orders fell, according toeconomists. Oil has gained 2.9 percent this week on concernsanctions against Iran will limit supplies.
��The bigger issues are the geopolitical crisis with Iranand the European debt crisis, pushing and pulling against themarket,�� said Anthony Nunan, a senior adviser for riskmanagement at Mitsubishi Corp. in Tokyo, who described the U.S.stockpile data as bearish. ��We had an overreaction to theupside and people are coming back to the reality that theEuropean crisis will still be a big drag on the economy.��
Crude for February delivery was at $101.90 at 3:45 p.m.Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract dropped $1.41 to $101.81,the lowest settlement this week. Prices gained 8.2 percent in2011.
Brent oil for February settlement on the London-based ICEFutures Europe exchange rose 0.1 percent, to $112.87 a barrel.The European benchmark contract was at a $10.95 premium to NewYork-traded West Texas Intermediate crude. The spread was arecord $27.88 on Oct. 14.
Iran Sanctions
Brent��s premium has widened from $7.93 a barrel on Dec. 27amid heightened tension over sanctions aimed at curbing Iran��snuclear program. The country, the third-largest oil exporterglobally, has threatened to shut the Strait of Hormuz, a transitroute for a fifth of the world��s crude.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti yesterday questioned thescope and timing of possible European Union sanctions againstIran, raisin! g an obs tacle to stiffer penalties.
The EU is working to halt oil purchases from Iran, U.S.State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. Europeanforeign ministers aim to announce harsher penalties on thePersian Gulf nation��s energy and banking industries at a meetingJan. 30, according to EU spokesman Michael Mann.
��Shooting Star��
Oil in New York may fall next week on speculation Iranwon��t block the Strait of Hormuz and concern that Europe willstruggle to contain its debt crisis, a Bloomberg News surveyshowed. Fifteen of 32 analysts and traders, or 47 percent,forecast futures will decrease through Jan. 13. Fourteenpredicted prices will rise.
West Texas Intermediate futures may decline as pricemovements this week have created a ��shooting star�� on thecandlestick chart, a bearish technical formation, according todata compiled by Bloomberg. Stochastic oscillators also remainabove a reading of 70, signaling crude is overbought.
Gasoline stockpiles in the U.S., the world��s biggest oilconsumer, rose 2.48 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 30,the Energy Department report also showed. Supplies were forecast (DOEASMGS)to gain 1 million barrels, according to the median estimate of13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Distillate-fuel (DOESDIST)inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, were up 3.22million barrels, more than three times the estimated increase of1 million barrels.
Gasoline supplies in independent storage climbed to thehighest level in almost six months in the European hub ofAmsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp, according to PJK International BV.Stockpiles rose 14 percent to 706,000 metric tons in the week toyesterday, the researcher in Breda, Netherlands, said yesterday.
Retail sales in the euro zone dropped 0.4 percent inNovember and consumer confidence fell to the lowest in more thantwo years last month, according to Bloomberg surveys beforereports today. Factory orders in Germany, the Europe��s largesteconomy, slid 1.8 percent in November, ! another survey showed.
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