WTI Crude Rebounds After Capping Biggest Weekly Drop Since 2012

 West Texas Intermediate crude rebounded after prices capped the biggest weekly decline in 19 months as a government report showed that U.S. stockpiles of distillate fuel and gasoline expanded.

Futures advanced as much as 0.4 percent in New York. WTI dropped 6.3 percent last week, the most since June 2012. U.S. distillate supplies, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, increased 5.04 million barrels to 119.1 million, the Energy Information Administration said Jan. 3. Gasoline inventories rose 844,000 barrels, the EIA said.

WTI for February delivery gained as much as 33 cents to $94.29 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $94.17 at 10:51 a.m. Sydney time. The contract fell 1.6 percent to $93.96 on Jan. 3, the lowest settlement since Dec. 2. The volume of all futures traded was about 54 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for February settlement was at $107.02 a barrel, up 13 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $12.85 to WTI. The spread closed at $12.69 on Jan. 3.

U.S. crude stockpiles declined by 7.01 million barrels to 360.6 million during the week ended Dec. 27, according to the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

(Source: Bloomberg)