Baku. Vahab Rzayev – APA-ECONOMICS. Crude oil traded near $78 a barrel in New York after an industry report showed U.S. supplies gained, raising concern that fuel demand in the biggest energy-consuming nation may be slow to recover, Bloomberg reported.
Oil pared yesterday’s gains after the American Petroleum Institute reported crude inventories rose 2.89 million barrels last week. Gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles also climbed on a drop in refinery utilization, the report said.
Crude oil for January delivery traded at $78.51 a barrel, up 14 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:22 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose $1.09, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $78.37. Oil fell below $77.80 following the API report, which came after settlement. Prices have gained 75 percent this year.
Crude gained after reports yesterday showed signs of increased manufacturing output in the U.S. and China, responsible for about 32 percent of global oil consumption. India’s oil processing climbed 7.2 percent in October from a year earlier, the country’s Oil Ministry said on Nov. 25.
Brent crude oil for January settlement were at $79.62 a barrel, up 27 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 2:21 p.m. Singapore time. The contract yesterday rose 88 cents, or 1.1 percent, to end the session at $79.35.
