Oil rose $2 a barrel today, within striking distance of an all-time high, after a surprise drawdown in US crude and distillate stocks.
The drop helped push US oil futures up $2.09 to $83.39 a barrel this evening, near the all-time high of $83.90 a barrel struck on 20 September. London Brent crude rose $1.89 to $80.49 a barrel.
US crude stocks tumbled 1.7 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, confounding analysts' expectations for a 900,000-barrel increase.
Domestic distillate supplies fell a larger-than-expected 600,000 barrels last week. Gasoline inventories rose 1.7 million barrels, exceeding forecasts for a 100,000 barrels rise.
US crude stocks tumbled 1.7 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, confounding analysts' expectations for a 900,000-barrel increase.
Domestic distillate supplies fell a larger-than-expected 600,000 barrels last week. Gasoline inventories rose 1.7 million barrels, exceeding forecasts for a 100,000 barrels rise.
World oil demand will grow more slowly than expected in the fourth quarter as record-high oil prices prompt some consumers to seek alternatives, the International Energy Agency said today.
The IEA, adviser to industrialised countries, said in its monthly Oil Market Report demand will rise by 2.03 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter from a year ago, 320,000 bpd less than previously expected.
'There has been a bit of substitution going on, natural gas for oil, which is essentially a price effect,' Lawrence Eagles, of the IEA said.
'There have also been some small downward adjustments to economic growth, which have also played a role', he said.
The cut in fourth-quarter demand follows a similar move by the IEA last month and points to a slightly lower need for oil from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the final months of 2007.
OPEC is set to raise output in November, a move that followed months of pressure from the Paris-based IEA which has been worried about the impact of record oil prices above $80 a barrel on consumers.
