OIL-barrel up to 80 DLRS before U.S. inventories data

Oil rose on Wednesday to the 80 a barrel on a weakening dollar, as investors await data on crude inventories in the United States.

The euro rose after a government source provided details of the Greek government plans to reduce public debt. A weaker dollar lowers the raw materials for holders of other currencies and usually drives oil prices.
U.S. crude rose 13 cents to $ 79.81 a barrel, after having advanced to $ 80.06.
Brent crude surged 8 cents to $ 78.26 a barrel.
"In the medium term, we expect lower prices by weak fundamentals, but by the time a positive tone prevails in the market, so it may be a higher pick," said Carsten Gritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.

The Energy Information Administration of U.S. (EIA in English) will release its weekly report on inventories of crude oil and at 1530 GMT.

Crude stocks have risen by 1.4 million barrels, while distillates were expected to fall 900,000 barrels.

OIL-Market about 80 DLRS, Seventh-day strike in France

Oil cut on Tuesday a five-day bull run, although prices were supported near $ 80 a strike of French oil workers, which could close more than half the nation's refining capacity.

U.S. crude futures for April down 37 cents to $ 79.94 a barrel by 0934 GMT. The March contract, which expired on Monday, marked $ 80.51 during the day for a maximum contract next month from 13 January.Brent crude fell 36 cents to $ 78.25.

Strikes at refineries Total has entered its seventh day. The workers are protesting against the French company's plan to close one of its six refineries permanently by weak demand for fuel.

In all refineries, production has been suspended.Workers at both Exxon French refineries have approved suspension of work in solidarity with their counterparts from Total.

The generalization of the measures of force has led to the intervention of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who met with the CEO of Total Christophe de Margerie on Tuesday morning. Earlier, the Government asked motorists to remain calm.

Motorists flocked to the stations, while the oil sector group UFIP said Monday that France was about seven days of fuel supply.Analysts said the strike raised concerns about a potential shortage of gasoline, raising prices of petroleum products and crude oil futures supported, although refinery outages generally translate into lower demand for physical crude oil .

"I see that the market will remain relatively high due to this fear by a strike in France," said Andy Sommer, an energy analyst at Swiss EGL. "We know how quickly they adjusted the basics, or how long.

Later in the day the market's attention will go to the weekly inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute, at 2130 GMT.

OIL-barrel falls below 80 DLRS, caution inventories

Oil prices fell Tuesday from a peak above 80 dollars per barrel recorded earlier on a weaker dollar, as a cautious review of supply and demand weakened the recovery.

The dollar fell to its lowest in 14 months against a basket of currencies on Tuesday. A weak dollar lowers the dollar-denominated commodities like oil, for those who derive their income in other currencies.

U.S. crude for November delivery touched $ 80.05 a barrel in Asian trade, the highest since Oct. 14 last year, but then fell back to $ 79.35 a barrel toward 1010 GMT.

London Brent crude fell 20 cents to $ 77.57 a barrel.

Oil prices have risen by almost $ 10 since early October fueled by optimism about the strength of the season of corporate earnings announcements as a sign of economic recovery, in addition to the renewed growth of oil demand.

"We see little support for the surge (oil prices), which collects eight days now, and we think at some point OPEC spare capacity of around 6 million barrels, along with the huge inventory offshore, unleash a correction phase, "said an analyst with Energy JCB, David Wech, in a research note.

The secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Abdullah al-Badri said Tuesday he doubted that oil prices can continue around $ 80 a barrel, due to high inventories.

The U.S. inventory data disclosed on Tuesday that American Petroleum Institute could accelerate the losses in prices if crude inventories grow, according to some analysts.

A preliminary Reuters poll of analysts projected that the data reflect an accumulation of 2 million barrels in crude stocks last week.

European shares hit more than 12 months, oil rise

European shares rose on Wednesday to a maximum of 12 months by a weaker dollar drove oil prices and metals, and to results of the technology that Intel and ASML reassured investors.

At 0928 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 of top values rose 1.87 percent to 1014.03 points, after reaching a maximum of 12 months of 1014.36 points in the session.

The dollar hit a 14-month low boosting prices for oil and metals.

Energy stocks gained ground by the recent rise in oil prices above $ 75 a barrel.

Shares of oil company Total, ENI, BP and Royal Dutch Shell gained between 2 and 2.6 percent.

OPEC foresees more global oil demand in 2009 and 2010

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revised up its forecast for oil demand in 2009 and 2010, following signs of "restoration" of the world economy, in its monthly report published on Tuesday in Vienna.
The decline in consumption was limited to -1.65% this year instead of 1.8% previously expected, and will rise to 0.8% in 2010, against 0.6% previously raised, the report of the OPEC.
In absolute terms, OPEC increased its forecast for 2009 and 2010 by around 0.2 million barrels per day (mbd).
The organization, source of 40% of world oil, is betting on a world recession of -1.2% this year and 2.7% growth in 2010, instead of 2.3% previously.
"The world economy appears to be entering a new phase, moving from a period of limiting the effects of the crisis to a period of economic recovery," said the cartel.
Despite a recovery in U.S. oil demand in 2010 will be driven primarily by emerging powers like China and India and regions like the Middle East and Latin America, OPEC said.
Last Friday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) had also revised upwards its projection of world oil consumption in 2009, which according to the agency will suffer a decline of 1.9% compared to 2008, instead of -2.2 % in its previous monthly report.

Oil continues to rise and is traded around the $ s73

U.S. crude l-type WTI traded to $ 72.50 in early trading session. Its value registered a rise of 5% so far this week

Oil prices ranging around $ 72.50 a barrel Thursday after jumping more than 5 percent this week, due to which large U.S. inventories of distillates such as diesel offset the positive outlook in other markets.

U.S. crude fell 14 cents to $ 72.37 a barrel, after starting the week to below $ 70 a barrel.

London Brent futures fell 13 cents to $ 71.54 a barrel.

European stock markets climbed in early trading and the benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 is held above his mark of 1,000 points, while gold touched an 18-month, adding to signs that investors are willing to take more risks.

But analysts said the weak bases neutralize these potentially positive news, because high inventories of distillates could limit any gains during the period of maximum heating demand.

Data from the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. distillates rose 2.2 million barrels last week, exceeding by far the increase expected by analysts of 1.3 million barrels.

And while crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week, analysts said this was due to higher refinery utilization rates rather than a genuine increase in demand.

"Currently we see no physical tightness and even an imminent appearance of a deficit supply / demand to help the market to rise," said Citi analyst Timothy Evans in a research note.