Forexpros – Crude oil futures traded higher Wednesday, on supply numbers and renewed hopes for a second Greek bailout package.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for March settlement traded at USD98.81 a barrel during late U.S. trade gaining 0.40%.
Crude oil hit a low of USD98.19 a barrel and a high of USD100.08 a barrel during the trading session.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar helped lift crude oil prices. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, eased higher by 0.11% to 78.68.
Dollar weakness generally lifts commodity prices, as it increases their appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar priced commodities less expensive for holders of other currencies.
The U.S. EIA stated in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories climbed by 0.03 million barrels in the week ending February 3, below the expected 2.5 million barrel increase.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 339.2 million barrels as of last week, staying in the upper range for this time of year.
On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute stated that crude oil inventories fell by as much as 4.5 million barrels last week.
Oil’s strength corresponded with the euro pushing higher against the greenback on reports that Greek officials were working on the final draft of a bailout agreement prior to a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and coalition leaders today.
This agreement is critical for Greece to avoid default on March 20 by obtaining its next tranche of bailout funds.
Eurogroup President Jean Claude Juncker stated earlier that he is confident Greece will remain in the euro zone, provided the island nation fulfilled its obligations to other euro zone nations.
Over the weekend, Iran restated its threat to halt oil exports prior to the European embargo on July 1.
Additional worries about Israel launching an attack against Iranian nuclear installations increased the session’s tension
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery advanced 0.37% to trade at USD116.67 a barrel, up USD17.73 on its U.S. Counterpart.
The spread hit a high of USD27.88 a barrel in October 2011.
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