Fog, and 31 ° F. 
NEW YORK (DTN) — New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures extended gains at the start of regular trade Wednesday morning, bolstered by investor optimism after Chinese data showed growth in the manufacturing sector.
At the 9:00 AM ET opening bell, October NYMEX WTI crude futures were up 90cts to $72.82 and continues to advance after the open. The contract has been trading within a tight range for the past five sessions.
In products trade, new spot-month October NYMEX No. 2 heating oil futures rose 3.58cts to $2.0275 gal while October NYMEX RBOB gasoline futures were 2.74cts higher at $1.8848 gal.
Oil and equity markets ignored weak jobs data from payroll firm ADP Employer Services this morning, with oil traders also closely watching Hurricane Earl.
The hurricane could have some impact on gasoline production and consumption in the U.S. east coast. Parts of the region are under hurricane warning.
Refiner Sunoco said this morning that it’s closely watching Earl’s path and will take precautionary measures to protect its staff and property if necessary.
Sunoco is a leading refiner in the Northeast region, with a 178,000 bpd refinery in Marcus Hook and a 335,000 bpd refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, the oil market is awaiting inventory data from the Energy Information Administration that’s expected to show a build for U.S. crude stockpiles. Both the oil and equity markets are also awaiting U.S.
manufacturing data for August.
| EIA Report | 1-Sep-10 |
| Run Rate | 87% Down .7% |
| US Crude | 3.4 MB Build |
| US Gas | 200,000 BBL Draw |
| US Dist | 700,000 BBL Draw |
| P5 Crude | No Change |
| P5 Gas | 500,000 BBL Draw |
| P5 Dist | 200,000 BBL Build |
| Gas Demand | Up 1.9% |
| Distillate Demand | Up 7.8% |
Bullish report so the small drop in prices yesterday will rebound today as diesel remains short in the NW
