What's Moving the Oil Markets?

•Global crude futures climbed further Thursday as fundamental and technical factors pushed prices out of a $4-$5/barrel range seen over the last two months, brokers said, as bullish sentiment extended into a fifth day. "Technically this market is looking very strong. We had a bullish settle last night and that has added impetus to today," a London-based broker said.

•On Wednesday the latest US inventory report by the Energy Information Administration showed unexpected draws in product stocks. Analysts had been expecting small builds in gasoline and distillate stocks but the EIA reported that US gasoline and distillate inventories fell by 600,000 and 1 million barrels, respectively, during the week ending November 24.

•Wednesday's US stock data pushed January ICE Brent through $62.50/barrel to settle at over $63/barrel, the highest settlement since mid-September. The technically strong settlement, and a break through a late September resistance level of around $63.60/barrel may provide further impetus for prices to continue rising, brokers said.

Updated: 11/30/07