WTI oil price firm over $84 ahead of US oil stocks report

WTI oil futures open this morning’s trading session firm over $84 a barrel ahead of the latest weekly oil supply report out of the US, while colder weather in Europe boosted short term oil demand forecasts.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for January 2011 delivery was trading at $84.58 a barrel, 07.45 GMT this morning on the NYMEX, after closing yesterday’s trading session at $84.11.

Both WTI and Brent oil contracts closed lower yesterday as concerns that Europe’s debt crisis will widen and ongoing concerns about about China’s economic growth.

Total US crude oil trading volume on Tuesday was an unoffical 493,803 lots, down from Monday’s 539,097 and 20 percent below the 30 day average.

US Crude Oil Stocks to Decline Again?

US crude oil stocks are expected to decline by 600,000 barrels in data due at 10.30 EST Wednesday from the US Department of Energy.

Meanwhile, energy is in demand across Europe by plummeting temperatures and heavy snowfall. Some oil price support has come from estimates of colder than normal temperatures in Europe, pointing to strong seasonal demand for heating oil.

The cold weather severely disrupted German and British airports, forcing schools in England and Scotland to shut down and caused grim conditions on European roads.

Oil, The Remarkable Commodity

“Oil is a remarkably resilient commodity right now. If you can’t find a fundamental reason to like it, you can often find an asset class reason to like it and recently it does seem to have been added into the group of a few things are that are considered safe havens.” commented Peter Beutel, an analyst at Cameron Hanover.