Crude prices surge back above $70

1 October 2009

Oil prices rebounded back above $70 (€47.96) a barrel on Wednesday after renewed optimism over the future of global energy demand pushed values up nearly six per cent.

US crude for November delivery jumped $3.90, or 5.8 per cent, to close at $70.61 a barrel, while London Brent crude settled up $3.58 at $69.07.

The hike came after the US Energy Information Administration's weekly oil report showed an unexpected 1.6-million barrel draw in gasoline inventories over the past week.

Although the figures also revealed that crude oil inventories grew by 2.8 million barrels during that period, the drop was enough to raise fresh hopes of an upturn in energy demand.

In other Nymex trading, the data had a knock-on effect on home heating oil prices, which advanced 9.54 cents to close at $1.796 a gallon.

Crude prices also found support from the weak dollar as the greenback fell against major foreign currencies, making commodities more appealing to foreign traders.

However, values retreated slightly in early morning trading today (October 1st), as US crude futures fell 29 cents to $70.32 by 07:10 BST. London Brent fell 18 cents to stand at $68.89.

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