London: Oil traded above $82 yesterday, heading for its fifth consecutive quarterly gain.
Front-month crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have gained almost 4 per cent so far this year, trading at $82.44 a barrel in morning trading, up 7 cents from Tuesday. Brent crude for May rose 3 cents to $81.31 in London.
A poll of 14 analysts showed US crude oil inventories likely rose last week for the ninth straight time.
"One week ago, the DOE reported a huge 7.25 million barrel increase in crude inventories ... prices held steady, gathered their forces and then forged higher," publisher Dennis Gartman wrote in his closely-followed newsletter for traders.
"Markets that rise on bearish news are impressive enough, but markets that rise on overtly bearish news are truly impressive. This is one such market."
US oil demand in the past few weeks has posted its first year-on-year gain in 18 months, while Chinese imports are surging, reflecting sustained growth for the world's top two oil users.
Stockpiles
Oil-product inventories in the US have been shrinking. Stockpiles of distillate fuels including heating oil and diesel decreased by 1 million barrels last week to 147.5 million barrels, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday.
Gasoline stocks dropped by 946,000 barrels, falling to 223.2 million barrels, API said. Crude supplies rose 421,000 barrels, compared with a Reuters survey forecasting an average increase of 2.4 million barrels.
Oil prices this quarter have traded from a peak of $83.95 in January, the highest since October 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, to a low of $69.50 a barrel in February.
