Oil Rises on Lower Inventories

West Texas Intermediate headed for its first weekly advance in three as crude supplies shrank for the first time in more than a month in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent rose as the European Union considered expanding sanctions on Russia.

Futures increased as much as 0.9 percent in New York. Crude stockpiles fell by 1.78 million barrels last week as inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, slid to the lowest level since December 2008, data from the Energy Information Administration show. The European Union is ready to expand sanctions to some Russian companies, two officials said.

“It’s mainly because of stocks drawdowns in Cushing,” Abhishek Deshpande, an analyst at Natixis SA in London, said in an e-mailed response to questions about rising prices. The crisis in Ukraine “is adding some uncertainty to oil.”

WTI for June delivery climbed as much as 92 cents to $101.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $100.71 at 1:10 p.m. London time. The contract decreased 51 cents to $100.26 yesterday. Prices have gained 0.9 percent after two weekly losses.

Brent for June settlement rose as much as 98 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $109.02 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $7.89 to WTI on ICE, compared with $8.83 on May 2.

via Bloomberg

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