West Texas
Intermediate oil in New York
fluctuated after operators said the Seaway pipeline won’t be able to carry
projected volumes in the “foreseeable future.” The WTI discount to Brent
narrowed on changes to North Sea crude
pricing.
WTI traded
in a 91-cent-a-barrel range. Enterprise Product Partners LP said Seaway isn’t
able to move a planned capacity of 400,000 barrels a day. Surging U.S. output has
led to the development of rail routes to make up for the Seaway delays. Platts,
which publishes world oil price assessments, proposed changes to its North Sea pricing formula less than two weeks after Royal
Dutch Shell Plc changed its own trading contract.
Oil in New York rose as much as 0.3 percent earlier on a report
that showed rising investor confidence in Germany, the world’s fifth biggest
crude importing country. The ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its index
of investor and analyst expectations climbed to highest in almost three years.
WTI futures
for March delivery, which expire tomorrow, traded in a range of $95.25 - $96.16 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.
Brent oil
for April settlement dropped 45 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $116.93 a barrel on
the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
