By Eric Yep
Crude-oil futures traded in a narrow price range in Asian trade
Wednesday, with the U.S. benchmark largely unchanged while Brent
crude recouped overnight losses.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures
for delivery in October traded at $93.91 a barrel at 0537 GMT, up
$0.05 in the Globex electronic session. October Brent crude on
London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.24 to $102.74 a barrel.
Talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents yesterday
were inconclusive and the conflict in eastern Ukraine continued
with Kiev releasing videos of captured Russian soldiers.
Meanwhile, Libyan oil production remains strong.
"Although August production and August imports from Libya may be
the highest in months, it's far from clear [if] the higher levels
will be sustained," analyst Tim Evans at Citi Futures says in a
note.
He said the deteriorating security situation in Libya has
increased the risk of a protracted civil war that may limit oil
production.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. oil
stocks fell by 1.3 million barrels last week. The U.S. Energy
Information Administration will publish its closely watched data
later Wednesday and markets expect an inventory drop of 900,000
barrels.
Lower stockpiles indicate stronger demand and support oil
prices. U.S. gasoline demand is also expected to grow over the
Labor Day holiday on Sep. 1, ANZ said.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for September--the
benchmark gasoline contract--rose 79 points to $2.7710 a gallon,
while September diesel traded at $2.8444, 2 points higher.
ICE gasoil for September changed hands at $863.75 a metric ton,
down $0.50 from Tuesday's settlement.
Write to Eric Yep at eric.yep@wsj.com