By Agency Reporter   Wednesday, 15 Sep 2010

 

Oil was steady on Tuesday at above $77 a barrel, a little below one-month highs.

The price is ahead of inventory reports expected to show crude stock draws as the shutdown of the biggest Canada-United States pipeline entered a fifth day.

US crude for October was down by eight cents at $77.11.

It settled at a one-month high on Monday, having earlier touched an intraday peak at $78.04.

That was the highest since August 11, 2010, when prices last touched $80.

Total US crude inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels last week, their second weekly drop, after the shutdown of Enbridge‘s Line 6A cut imports, a Reuters poll forecast ahead of weekly supply reports on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The Enbridge disruption will be the main focus for the oil markets this week,” Olivier Jakob of consultants Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland, said.

“We‘re still waiting for some clarity on when the end to the disruption will be.”

However, he said that for oil prices to rise in response to the inventory figures this week, “I think you would need something a bit larger than a two million draw.”

Source: The Punch