Indiana Grain Company, LLC

Posted: 11/13/11

By: tomgrisafi

In early Asian trading Monday, crude oil futures were on the rise, adding to the previous week's gains on expectations of continued demand growth.

On Friday, preliminary data showing that U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in five months in November similarly contributed to stronger risk appetite among traders.

Weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released Wednesday showed that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels in the preceding week to 338.1 million barrels.

Early Monday, brent crude topped $114.00 a barrel while U.S. oil traded well above $99.00. On Friday, the U.S. benchmark closed at a 15-week high and posted a sixth consecutive weekly gain.

“The Middle East risk premium is starting to be poured back into the market and, as a result, oil is trickling higher,” said Jonathan Barratt, a managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney. “There’s tough resistance at $100 a barrel. I would think $100 would hold it, but then back to $95.”

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