WTI oil trading near $91 on US jobs data, crude oil supply

14 January 2011 14 January 2011

BonTrade

WTI crude oil futures fell in trading on Thursday after briefly rising above $92 after a report that showed a surprising jump in US unemployment benefits, together with news on the Alaskan oil pipeline continue to dent oil supplies in the US.

Latest WTI Oil Price

US Light crude oil futures for February 2011 delivery was trading at $91.18 a barrel, 06.15 GMT this morning on the NYMEX.

Alaska Oil Pipeline to Shut

Alaska’s main oil pipeline will shut from Friday evening to install a bypass aimed at restoring oil shipments to full volumes after the line was shut following a leak last week.

The pipeline shutdown has raised expectations that refiners in the US west coast would increase crude oil imports from the Asian Pacific region and the Middle East.

“While there have been numerous supply disruptions in the past week, we see these as part of the noise that is always seen in the supply system.” JP Morgan analysts led by Lawrence Eagles said in a weekly note.

Meanwhile, US weekly initial unemployment benefit claims showed their biggest increase in six months, suggesting that, even with recent signs of economic improvement, the labor market paints a gloomy picture for US oil demand.