WTI Crude Little Changed After Rising First Time in Three Days

Bloomberg (12/9) -- West Texas Intermediate traded little changed after rising for the first time in three days yesterday as stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, fell to the lowest level since February 2012 and refinery utilization climbed. Futures climbed as much as 23 cents. Supplies at Cushing, the delivery point for New York-traded futures, slid for a 10th week, matching the longest stretch of losses in almost two years, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Refineries ran at 92.5 percent of capacity, the highest level for this time of year since 2006. The U.S. and Russia meet today to discuss a plan for Syria to surrender its chemical weapons. WTI for October delivery was at $107.66 a barrel, up 10 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:55 a.m. Sydney time. The contract rose 0.2 percent to $107.56 yesterday. The volume of all futures traded was about 77 percent below the 100-day average. Brent for October settlement increased 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $111.57 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $3.88 to WTI futures compared with $3.94 yesterday. The Russian initiative to avert U.S. military strikes on Syria through a plan to eliminate the regime’s chemical weapons faces a first test when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets in Geneva with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. Oil prices fell early yesterday as President Barack Obama postponed a decision to take action against Syria.