US Crude Settles Near $92 as Supply Improves

Texas, Oct. 19, stock trade .- Oil prices fell on Thursday on indications of improving supply and a rise in U.S. jobless claims, despite support from the closure of a pipeline carrying Canadian crude oil to the United States. U.S. crude was flat, settling just above $92 a barrel. Brent pared back losses and U.S. crude briefly turned higher on news TransCanada has shut down its 590,000-barrel per day (bpd) Keystone pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Midwest and Midcontinent. The shutdown is expected to last for three days, the company said.

“The market is in a phase where there is a strong reaction to infrastructure issues, although refinery snags are of greater import given low refined product storage levels,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

“Still, if this crude oil pipeline issue does not clear quickly, we will see further gains,” Kilduff added.

Oil prices felt pressure earlier after a government report showed initial jobless claims rose last week, although some analysts noted that the four-week moving average was down from a month earlier.

Indications of improving supply had weighed on crude prior to the jobs report, offsetting any support from data showing that China's third-quarter slowdown was not worse than analyst expectations.

U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday. The North Sea Buzzard oil field, Britain's largest, is scheduled to restart this weekend after maintenance, increasing supply of crude underpinning the Brent contract.

Brent December crude [LCOCV1  112.54    0.12  (+0.11%)   ] fell 72 cents to $112.50 a barrel by 1:27 p.m. EDT (1727 GMT). It fell earlier to $111.57, below the 200-day moving average of $112.24, a technical level monitored by chart-watching traders and analysts.... Continue to read.