WTI Oil Fluctuates After Rising Most in Week; Seaway Flow Climbs

West Texas Intermediate crude fluctuated after rising the most in a week as Enterprise Products Partners LP said oil volumes through the Seaway pipeline will climb, helping reduce a glut in the U.S. Midwest.

Futures swung between gains and losses after climbing 0.8 percent in New York yesterday, the most since Feb. 11. Seaway flows will average 295,000 barrels a day between February and May, up from 180,000 barrels in January, said William Ordemann, senior vice president at Enterprise, in Feb. 15 testimony to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose a fifth week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a government report tomorrow.

WTI for March delivery, which expires today, gained 3 cents to $96.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:39 a.m. Sydney time. The contract rose 80 cents to $96.66 yesterday. The more-active April future climbed 3 cents to $97.13. The volume of all futures traded was 58 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for April settlement gained 14 cents to $117.52 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday. The front-month European benchmark grade closed at a premium of $20.42 to WTI futures. The gap expanded to $23.18 on Feb. 8, the widest since Nov. 26.

U.S. crude supplies probably gained 2 million barrels last week, according to the median estimate of nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey. It will be the longest streak of gains since May. Gasoline stockpiles likely fell 900,000 barrels, the Bloomberg survey shows.

(sumber: Bloomberg)