WTI crude oil futures are trading back near $100 a barrel early on Friday as light oil prices saw a boost following US employment numbers that provided a bullish surprise, whilst weekly US oil stocks data from the EIA came in sluggish, lower than expected.<\/p>\n
Latest WTI Oil Price<\/strong><\/p>\n US Light crude oil futures for March 2012 delivery was trading at $99.55 a barrel, 07.15 GMT today in electronic trading on the NYMEX.<\/p>\n The US oil contract closed off Thursday’s trading session at $99.74 a barrel, or 0.9 percent higher on the day and the highest settlement in three weeks. US oil prices are up 1 percent this year.<\/p>\n US Oil Inventories<\/strong><\/p>\n Earlier, the US EIA stated in its weekly report that US crude oil inventories climbed by 0.03 million barrels in the week ending February 3, below the expected 2.5 million barrel increase. Total US crude oil inventories stood at 339.2 million barrels as of last week, staying in the upper range for this time of year.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the US API (American Petroleum Institute) reported that American crude oil inventories fell by as much as 4.5 million barrels last week.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the US Labour Department said applications for jobless benefits decreased 15,000 in the week ended February 4 to 358,000.<\/p>\n “The jobs data showed the US economy is definitely looking better than it was, and it\u2019s providing some strength to oil.” said Kyle Cooper, director of research for IAF Advisors in Houston.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n