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Crude oil futures were steady in London trading Thursday, having absorbed the news that the U.S. Federal Reserve will begin to scale back bond-buying in January, a sign that the world's biggest economy is improving. Brent crude for February delivery was down 14 cents, or 0.13%, to $109.49 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude-oil futures for January were also down 14 cents a barrel, or 0.14%, at $97.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

ICE Gasoil contract for January delivery settled at 929.00 USD on Wednesday. This was 9.50 USD above Tuesday's settlement. With some 57,900 deals the traded volume was on average.

Oil futures opened somewhat higher on Wednesday, supported by a bullish API report released Tuesday night. In the course of the session market participants opted for some profit taking that pushed oil prices to intraday lows. The bearish tendency did not last long, though. After the release of the DoE's figures on U.S. petroleum stocks oil prices rallied at ICE and NYMEX, the drop in U.S. crude oil and distillated product stocks when demand simultaneously rose, giving a clear bullish signal. After the first resistance lines were breached a series of technically driven stop loss buying orders accelerated oil's rise. When the Fed announced its decision to scale back its key bond buying programme from 85 billion to 75 billion dollars while leaving interest rates untouched, the dollar rose vs a basket of major currencies while oil prices remained fairly unimpressed. ICE futures settled considerably higher near their day's highs though, while the WTI stayed rather muted.

The Stochastic indicator is still slightly bullish at the ICE and NYMEX charts and should favour a continuation of the uptrend. Still, the indicator is likely to give false signals after the late price increase upon the release of Wednesday's DoE petroleum inventory report, so that we consider its influence less important than usual. What is more, Wednesday's price jump should have absorbed the Stochastic's bullish potential by now so that we regard the technical constellation as neutral today.

U.S.

Nymex neutral: Oil futures are trading in a narrow range with a slightly bullish tone at ICE and NYMEX this morning. The traded NYMEX volume is far below average for this time of day. Apart from the development of stock and forex markets and some economic indicators, there is little market participants could turn to for direction today.

Survey: Crude oil -3.3; distillates +0.2; gasoline +1.8 million barrels vs previous week.
API: Crude oil -2.5; distillates -0.4; gasoline -0.5 million barrels vs previous week.
DOE: crude oil -2,9; distillates -2,1; gasoline +1,3 million barrels vs previous week.

Houston (ex-wharf indications 16-12)
380cst $598
180cst $670
MGO $999

New Orleans (ex-wharf indications 16-12)
380cst $618
180cst $654
MGO $1004

Singapore

WTI is up slightly with +$0.24. Singapore paper is bullish with +$1.75 for 180cst and +$1.25 for 380cst for Dec, and for Jan 180 cst +$1.75 and 380cst +$1.25 with MGO contracts Dec +$0.88 and Jan -$0.90. The cargo market is bearish with 180 cst -$5.03, 380cst -$5.78 and MGO -$0.49.

The Singapore fuel oil markets fell more than $5.0 during the Platts window yesterday tracking the lower crude values. The Asian fuel oil cracks weakened during the window session. The delivered bunker premiums remained largely unchanged at around +$4.5 to +$5.0 above cargo prices. Market is said to be well supplied with avails. This morning markets are trading slightly lower.

380cst $604
180cst $611
MGO $925

ARA (Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp)

Still a lot of lsfo problems in ARA. No loading prospects in Antwerp. At the moment suppliers are only offering from end of this week onwards.

Indications for delivered bunkers:
380cst : $584
(1.0 %) : $620 (if available)
180cst: $614
MGO 0.1%S: $ 890