By Timothy Puko
NEW YORK---U.S. oil prices flip-flopped around unchanged
Thursday on dueling trends of tight inventories and weak
demand.
Light, sweet oil for October delivery traded up eight cents, or
0.1%, to $93.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent
prices fell 50 cents, or 0.5%, to $101.78 a barrel on the ICE
Futures Europe.
The U.S. benchmark had pushed down toward its low price for the
year in early-morning trading. Weak demand signs, especially from
disappointing manufacturing output from China, weighed on both U.S.
and international prices.
That changed in the U.S. market as the floor opened. Strong spot
buying caused prices to surge, said Andy Lebow, senior vice
president for energy derivatives at Jefferies Bache LLC.
It fits in with a long-standing pattern of refineries draining
supply from the Cushing, Okla., hub. Prices climbed in the prior
session, too, on the same trend. Wednesday's stockpile update from
the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed crude-oil
stockpiles had decreased last week by 4.5 million barrels, five
times more than expected.
"You're just seeing a continuation of the tight cash market,"
Mr. Lebow said. "The delivery point is very tight."
Front-month September reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB,
rose 0.42 cents, or 0.2%, to $2.7084 a gallon. September diesel
edged up 0.68 cent, or 0.2%, to $2.8190 a gallon.
Write to Timothy Puko at timothy.puko@wsj.com
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