Bloomberg report oil....hee hee I mean Bloomberg. This guy is predicting that oil stays off the $52.50 support for the rest of the year. He predicts more so read on if you like lots of words.
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Crude Oil Rises From Five-Week Low on Gasoline Supply Concern Listen
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil in New York rose from a five-week low on speculation that increasing gasoline demand will reduce U.S. inventories of the motor fuel.
Gasoline supplies were probably unchanged last week, according to the median of forecasts by 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Stockpiles fell in the five weeks ended April 1, Energy Department data shows. Oil also rebounded after failing to hold below so-called support levels that traders watch. Today's rise broke a five-day decline, the longest since August.
``Gasoline has driven us higher,'' said Jason Schenker, an analyst with Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte. ``It doesn't appear that gasoline supplies grew by much last week and there is a real possibility that they fell.''
Crude oil for May delivery rose 39 cents, or 0.7 percent, to close at $53.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil fell to $52.10 a barrel, the lowest since March 2. Prices surged to $58.28 on April 4, the highest since the contract was introduced in 1983. Oil is 42 percent higher than a year ago.
Prices briefly fell below $52.50 a barrel, the low on March 30 and a so-called support level.
``Prices fell below key support at $52.50 a barrel early today but failed to follow through,'' said Phil Flynn, vice president of risk management with Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. ``When the selling dried up you saw prices quickly rebound.''
Gasoline for May delivery rose 1.32 cents, or 0.9 percent, to close at $1.5498 a gallon in New York. Futures are down 11 percent from a record $1.7491 a gallon touched on April 4. Gasoline is 31 percent higher than a year ago.
Retail Gasoline
Retail gasoline prices have gained as refiners pass on higher oil costs. Pump prices for regular grade gasoline, averaged nationwide, rose 0.7 cent to a record $2.272 a gallon on April 8, according to the AAA, formerly the American Automobile Association.
U.S. gasoline consumption in the first quarter of this year is 3.4 percent higher than during the same period last year, department data shows.
Oil prices ``probably won't move a lot higher for the rest of the year,'' said Peter Thiel, who oversees $591 million as chief executive of Clarium Capital Management, a hedge fund in San Francisco.
Thiel's bets on rising oil prices helped him double his investors' money as of last August. At that time, he predicted that prices would probably reach $60 within 12 months and $100 by 2010. Today, he stuck to his longer-range forecast, saying oil may reach $80 to $100 a barrel by 2010 or 2012.
Oil for delivery in December 2010 traded today at $47.75 a barrel on the Nymex.
In London, the May Brent crude-oil futures contract rose 32 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $53.21 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange. Prices touched $51.52, the lowest since March 11. Brent futures reached $57.65 a barrel on April 4, the highest since trading began in 1988.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Robert Dieterich at rdieterich@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 11, 2005 15:26 EDT