* Equities bounce late, lift crude futures
* Heating oil, gasoline futures strengthen
* Coming up: CFTC trader commitments report on Friday
(Refiling to fix link to second graphic)
(Recasts, updates with settlement prices)
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - Oil prices settled slightly
higher on Thursday as equities rallied off early lows and
stronger refined products helped pull crude futures off their
early low.
U.S. June light crude oil futures <CLc1> edged up 2 cents,
or 0.2 percent, to settle at $83.70 a barrel, recovering after
falling almost $2 to a low of $81.73. Front-month crude hit an
18-month high above $87 on April 6.
Energy and equities markets were pressured early amid
concerns about Greece's ongoing fiscal problems, which also
strengthened the dollar and pressured the euro.
Wall Street bounced on strong corporate earnings and a drop
in new jobless claims. [] Also mentioned was relief in the
market that President Barack Obama's speech on financial reform
carried no new barbs. For details, see []
U.S. oil prices were under pressure from the crude oil
inventory rise of 1.8 million barrels to over 34 million
barrels last week at Cushing, Oklahoma, the landlocked delivery
point for U.S. crude futures.
The premium of July crude over front-month June crude
hovered near $2 on Thursday <CL-1=R>. The recent strengthening
contango, where the front-month is priced lower than the nearby
month, has been the widest since December.
In London, ICE Brent <LCOc1> crude ended slightly lower,
down 3 cents at $85.67 a barrel, but still at a $1.97 premium
to U.S. crude.
North Sea crude supplies will tighten over the next month
due to offshore equipment maintenance and Brent is also
responding to evidence of more Chinese demand, analysts say.
[]
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic of U.S. crude and Brent futures and their
recent divergence, click on:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/SBrb_20102204104405.jpg
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
U.S. heating oil and gasoline futures also settled higher
on Thursday. U.S. heating oil for May ended up 0.92 cent at
$2.2150 a gallon. U.S. RBOB gasoline May futures settled 1.75
cents higher at $2.3002 a gallon.
The strength in heating oil and the heating oil crack
spread, or profit margin, which has topped $10 a barrel, was
attributed to buying fueled by a steep contango in order to put
barrels into storage for sale at higher prices later, traders
said. []
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For a graphic of the out-of-season rally by the heating oil
crack spread, click on:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/JLeff_20102204133953.jpg
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
News that U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden said he expected
new U.N. sanctions on Iran by late April or early May also was
supportive to oil [], as was a pipeline blast in
the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, which was likely to
affect oil exports via the Kirkuk-to-Ceyhan pipeline for as
much as a week.
Rising U.S. crude oil inventories have helped hinder oil's
recent attempts to rally. The U.S. Energy Information
Administration said Wednesday that stocks rose unexpectedly
last week. []
(Additional reporting by Gene Ramos in New York, Christopher
Johnson in London, Alejandro Barbajosa in Singapore; Editing by
Walter Bagley)
