By Cassie Werber
Crude oil traded broadly higher Thursday, having largely avoided
the jitters that have gripped other global markets in recent
weeks.
March Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange was up 33
cents, or 0.3%, at $106.58 a barrel. On the New York Mercantile
Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March was up
40 cents, or 0.4%, at $97.77 a barrel.
A small stockpile increase in the U.S. means that the inventory
situation is tighter than last year overall, but it doesn't leave
much room for speculators to turn a profit.
"The lethargy of [Brent's] price has resulted in market
participants looking around for alternatives, such as the Brent-WTI
spread," Commerzbank analysts said in a note to clients.
The spread, or price difference between the two crudes, last
year fluctuated in a range of over $20. It has narrowed every week
for the past four, with West Texas Intermediate hovering at a
discount of between $8 and $9 to Brent.
Some volatility could return to the Brent price on Friday if
U.S. labor market data deviate significantly from the market's
expectations, said Commerzbank.
But Wednesday's U.S. inventory data didn't bring any volatility
back into the market.
The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude
stocks last week "only rose by some 440,000 barrels and overall,"
wrote analysts at JBC, meaning that "the inventory situation in the
U.S. is tighter than last year."
"Crude inventories are actually lower than they were at the
start of 2014, as are refined product stocks which, thanks to the
cold spell, have fallen by more than 23 million barrels over
January," the analysts said.
Recently the ICE's gas oil contract for February delivery was up
$7.00 at $902.50 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for March
delivery was up 114 points at $2.6527 a gallon.
Write to Cassie Werber at cassie.werber@wsj.com
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