MW: Oil futures rise above $80-barrel ahead of inventory data
By Laura Mandaro & Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures rose above $80 a barrel Wednesday, supported by a weaker dollar and data showing the smallest contraction in U.S. private employment in two years.
Crude oil for April delivery gained 61 cents, or 0.8%, to $80.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gasoline, natural-gas and heating-oil futures also rose.
Investors assessed a private group's report on crude-oil inventories that showed a bigger-than-anticipated gain in crude-oil inventories, but a steep drop in distillate stockpiles.
The Energy Information Administration releases its more closely-watched inventories report Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
Buoying sentiment, private-sector firms cut 20,000 jobs in February, the 25th decline in a row, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday. It was the fewest jobs lost since 22,000 jobs were added in January 2008. Read more on ADP.
Positive economic news tends to boost oil futures because they raise hopes of a swift recovery in the economy and energy demand.
Also supporting oil, the U.S. dollar fell against the euro after the Greek government promised further austerity measures. A weaker dollar makes hard assets like oil and gold more valuable. See Currencies.
For the past several weeks, oil futures have been unable to get much past $80 a barrel, hemmed in by concerns over supplies outstripping fragile demand.
The weekly inventories report from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday did little to assuage those concerns.
The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that crude-oil inventories rose by 2.67 million barrels, more than expected. Gasoline stockpiles rose by 909,000 barrels, while distillate stocks fell 4.1 million barrels, the API said.
The report was "relatively bearish," wrote MF Global analyst William Copp.
The EIA's figures often show a different trend, however.
Analysts polled by Platts expect a rise in crude inventories of 1.1 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 26. They also project that gasoline stockpiles rose 160,000 barrels, while distillates supplies fell 975,000 barrels.
The refinery-utilization rate is expected to have dropped to 81.1%.
Oil prices ended up 1.2% on Tuesday, boosted by the dollar's decline against other major currencies.
