Wednesday, February 12, 2014

West Texas Intermediate

West Texas Intermediate rose to its highest intraday level in seven weeks after an industry report showed U.S. distillate supplies shrank and a potential historic winter storm threatens to coat Georgia with ice. Crude oil gained as much as 0.8 percent in New York, where heavy snow is forecast.

China, the second-biggest oil consumer, imported a record amount of crude for a second month in January, customs data showed. China’s oil purchases increased about 12 percent from a year ago to 28.15 million metric tons, according to data on the website of the General Administration of Customs in Beijing today.

U.S. crude stockpiles expanded by 2.13 million barrels last week, the API data show. The EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, will probably report a gain of 2.6 million barrels today, according to statistical survey.