Oil prices above $104 after U.S. crude supply jumpApril 18, 2012 - 10:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Oil prices hovered above $104 a barrel Wednesday, April 18 in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies jumped more than expected for a fourth week, suggesting demand remains weak, The Associated Press reported. Benchmark oil for May delivery was up 17 cents to $104.37 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.27 to settle at $104.20 in New York on Tuesday. Brent crude for June delivery was down 34 cents at $118.44 per barrel in London. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 3.4 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 400,000 barrels. Inventories of gasoline fell 2.6 million barrels last week while distillates tumbled 2.4 million barrels, the API said. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday. Crude has traded above $100 most of this year as an improving U.S. economy has bolstered investor confidence. However, crude demand has remained tepid. "We look for a sizable U.S. crude supply surplus during the coming months to take some steam out of crude strength," energy trader and consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report. "We still see fresh lows to below the $100 mark by next week." On Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama urged Congress to give oil market regulators more muscle to deter price manipulation by speculators amid rising gasoline prices. Obama called on Congress to strengthen federal supervision of oil markets, increase penalties for market manipulation and empower regulators to increase the amount of money energy traders are required to put behind their transactions. "Although President Obama's comments on oil price regulation will occupy much headline space, it shouldn't have much impact on oil pricing over the near term," Ritterbusch said. In other energy trading, heating oil was down 0.1 cents at $3.13 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 0.5 cents at $3.17 per gallon. Natural gas rose 0.2 cents at $1.95 per 1,000 cubic feet. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | U.S. welcomes Armenia, Azerbaijan’s border delimitation announcement Blinken said it is an important step towards concluding a durable and dignified peace agreement. Residents Of border villages protest as Armenia, Azerbaijan agree on delimitation Residents of several Armenian communities in the northeastern Tavush province began protests late on Friday. European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. |