Crude oil futures erase losses ahead of inventory data

Forex Pros – Crude oil futures erased losses on Thursday, rebounding from a six-day low as a broadly weaker U.S. dollar boosted prices, while markets awaited key data on U.S. crude oil inventories.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD100.27 a barrel during U.S. morning trade, climbing 0.4%.     

It earlier fell as much as 0.55% to trade at USD99.34 a barrel, the lowest price since May 25.

Weakness in the U.S. dollar contributed to crude’s strength. The euro jumped to a one-month high against the greenback after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Europe should consider strengthening central control of economic policy if efforts to deal with its debt crisis do not deliver results.

The dollar index was down 0.45% to trade at 74.57, after earlier dropping to a one-month low of 74.35.

Traders were also awaiting next week's meeting in Vienna of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Qatar’s oil minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said that there was “no noticeable urgency” for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise its quota when it meets on June 8.
 
The oil market is in a “healthy situation,” Mr. al-Sada said earlier Thursday at a news conference in Ras Laffan, Qatar. Supply, demand and prices are “getting stable,” he added.

The comments came after industry publisher Energy Intelligence reported on Wednesday that OPEC will discuss increasing oil production by up to 1.5 million barrels per day when it meets next week.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Department was to release its closely-watched crude oil inventories report for the week ended May 27 later in the day. The data was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles decreased by 1.8 million barrels, while gasoline supplies were forecast to rise by 0.7 million barrels. 
 
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for July delivery rose 0.83% to trade at USD115.28 a barrel, up USD15.01 on its U.S. counterpart.




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