Brent oil for March settlement climbed $2.51, or 2.2 percent, to $114.58 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent’s premium to Nymex’s West Texas Intermediate widened for a seventh day, to $16.74.
the jobless rate surprisingly dropped from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent, which was seen as another sign that the economic recovery in the world’s largest energy consumer is picking up speed.
Total petroleum demand in the U.S., the biggest oil consumer, fell to 17.7 million barrels a day last week, the lowest level since May 1999, according to the Energy Department. Gasoline consumption decreased to 7.97 million barrels a day, the lowest level since September 2001.
Oil volume in electronic trading on the Nymex was 655,737 contracts as of 3:11 p.m. in New York. Volume totaled 745,272 yesterday, 27 percent above the three-month average. Open interest was 1.44 million contracts, a three-month high.
Iran has said it may close the Strait of Hormuz, the transit point for about a fifth of global crude, after the European Union announced Jan. 23 that it will implement an oil embargo starting July 1 to pressure the Islamic republic over its nuclear program.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country will carry out its threats in response to Western sanctions aimed at stopped its nuclear program if needed, the state-run Mehr news agency reported today.
The current oil inventory level can support 23.4 days of refinery use, the most since July 1, according to the Energy Department.
Crude prices may fall next week, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Fourteen of 34 analysts, or 41 percent, forecast oil will drop through Feb. 10. Twelve respondents, or 35 percent, predicted prices will increase and eight estimated there will be little change.
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