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MTECHTIPS:-Crude rallies from near 12-year lows, slowing massive week-long rout
U.S. crude futures rallied from near 12-year lows on Thursday amid heavy profit taking, enjoying a brief reprieve from a massive rout to open the new year. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI crude for February delivery traded between $30.29 and $31.75 a barrel before settling at $31.24, up 0.76 or 2.49% on the session. A day earlier, U.S. crude edged up by 1% to post its first winning session in 2016. Earlier this week, WTI crude slipped below $30 a barrel for the first time since December, 2003 when it hit an intraday low of $29.93. Over the first two weeks of the year, Texas light, sweet futures have tumbled by approximately 16%. On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), brent crude for March delivery wavered between $29.72 and $31.18 a barrel before closing at $30.97, up 0.79 or 2.62% on the day. North Sea brent futures briefly hit a fresh 12-year low on Thursday, before rebounding to end a nine-day losing streak. Since the start of the new year, brent futures have crashed by nearly 20%. Investors continued to digest a bearish supply report from Wednesday’s session when the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its Weekly Petroleum Status Report that U.S. commercial crude inventories rose by 0.2 million barrels last week for the week ending on January 8. At 482.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years. Although analysts expected to see a build of 2.5 million barrels for the week, investors changed their expectations after the American Petroleum Institute reported a draw of 3.9 million barrels on Tuesday after the bell.
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