Crude oil futures rose for a second day on Wednesday after floor trading on the Nymex resumed following a two-day suspension because of Hurricane Sandy.

CME Group, the exchange's owner, said electronic trading has been operating normally.

On Wednesday focus turned to assessing the extent of damage to north eastern US oil refineries and the impact on oil supplies. Reports suggest that US refineries are opening back up and damage from the storm is minimal.

Crude oil for December delivery climbed 14 cents to $85.68 a barrel after rising to an intra-day high of $87.19 a barrel earlier in the session.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute said US crude stockpiles rose by 2m barrels to 372m last week. Gasoline supplies fell 173,000 barrels to around 200m, the report showed.

The widely watched Department of Energy's weekly supply data has been postponed its inventory report in the wake of Sandy's impact.

On the ICE futures exchange Brent futures lost 54 cents to $108.90 a barrel.

Gasoline futures fell 2.8 cents at $2.729 a gallon.

Among precious metals gold for December delivery added $7 an ounce to $1,719.10 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.


CJ

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