By Eric Yep
Crude-oil futures swung between gains and losses in Asian trade
Thursday as investors assessed a lower growth target from China, a
slower increase in U.S. oil stockpiles and ongoing production
issues in Libya.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures
for delivery in April traded at $51.82 a barrel at 0419 GMT, up
$0.29 in the Globex electronic session. Brent crude for April
delivery on London's ICE Futures exchange rose $0.14 to $60.69 a
barrel.
China on Thursday projected economic growth of about 7% for
2015, lower than the 7.4% it achieved in 2014. Beijing also
announced several energy-related goals, including reducing energy
intensity--the amount of energy needed to increase gross domestic
product--by more than 3.1% for 2015, strictly controlling energy
use and boosting clean-energy sources like hydropower.
A softer Chinese economy has been mostly priced in by the market
considering that crude demand was artificially inflated by
stockpiling in recent months, analyst Daniel Ang at Phillips
Futures said.
He said investors are mainly focused on the premium of Brent
over Nymex crude and the impact of the refinery workers' strike in
the U.S. It may take a few days for the full impact of China's
growth forecasts to be felt, he said.
"Traders are taking positions thinking that the Brent-WTI spread
will narrow, and that's a bigger issue for oil now," Mr. Ang
said.
U.S. refiners and striking union workers are digging in for a
protracted battle that could last through the spring. The strike
that affects around 20% of U.S. oil-refining capacity, along with
high inventories have widened the Brent-WTI spread, which is
currently around $8.85 a barrel.
Oil had moved in opposite directions overnight with Nymex crude
settling 2% higher as U.S. stockpiles rose less than expected last
week, while Brent lost 0.77%.
Meanwhile, Libya's National Oil Co. on Wednesday declared a
force majeure related to 11 oil fields in the center of country,
saying it was no longer able to ensure security at the sites after
attacks by Islamic State militants.
In Switzerland, Iran and six major powers neared an
understanding on a deal over Tehran's nuclear program, on condition
that Tehran refrain from amassing enough fuel for a nuclear weapon
for at least a year.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi Wednesday made some of
his clearest statements yet on its oil policy.
"Today, it is not the role of Saudi Arabia, or certain other
OPEC nations, to subsidize higher cost producers by ceding market
share," he said. Saudi Arabia has very low production costs and is
more efficient than other producers, he said. "It is an advantage
which we will use, as any producer would, to help supply dependent
global customers," Mr. Naimi said.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for April--the benchmark
gasoline contract--rose 6 points to $1.9263 a gallon, while April
diesel traded at $1.9003, 10 points lower.
ICE gasoil for March changed hands at $582.75 a metric ton, up
$5.50 from Wednesday's settlement.
--Alison Sider, Benoît Faucon and Mark Magnier contributed to
this report
Write to Eric Yep at eric.yep@wsj.com