Crude moves up and down on disappointing U.S. inventories
Published Feb 06, 2013 12:50PM ET
Ongoing political concerns in Spain pressured energy prices made for choppy trading as well.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD96.69 a barrel on Wednesday, up 0.05%, off from a session high of USD96.99 and up from an earlier session low of USD95.06.
In its weekly report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.62 million barrels, missing expectations for a gain of 2.77 million barrels.
During the week prior, oil inventories rose by 5.95 million barrels.
Gasoline stockpiles rose unexpectedly, though investors sold oil anyway.
The Energy Information Administration said that gasoline stockpiles rose by 1.738 million barrels last week after contracting 956,000 during the week prior.
Analysts were expecting gasoline inventories to fall by 43,000 barrels.
Meanwhile in Europe, concerns that corruption allegations in Spain may rattle confidence in the eurozone's recovery also dampened demand for oil.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has faced calls to resign in wake of allegations that he and senior officials in the ruling Popular Party took kickbacks.
Meanwhile in Germany, government data revealed that the country's factory orders rose 0.8% in December, missing expectations for a 0.9% gain though much better than November's 1.8% contraction.
Crude rose later after investors viewed the asset as a good buy.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery were up 0.12% at USD116.66 a barrel, up USD20.36 from its U.S. counterpart.
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Written By: Investing.com
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