Oil Set for First Weekly Gain Since June on Recovery Forecast

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose in New York, heading for its first weekly gain in more than a month, as equities climbed after economist Nouriel Roubini said the recession that’s curbed fuel consumption will end this year.

Oil rose after Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted the financial crisis, spoke at a conference in New York yesterday. U.S. stocks climbed for a fourth day on the forecast, the longest winning streak in six weeks, as companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Johnson & Johnson beat analysts’ estimates.

“We have a stream of fairly positive earnings as well as some pretty optimistic guidance from various companies on the outlook for the rest of the year, and that’s feeding through to oil,” said Toby Hassall, a research analyst at Commodity Warrants Australia Pty in Sydney.

Crude oil for August delivery rose as much as 33 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $62.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $62.05 a barrel at 9:53 a.m. Sydney time. Futures are up 4 percent this week and are set for the first weekly gain since June 12.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.9 percent in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1 percent to 8,711.82.

“The rally we saw earlier in the year that took us off the lows was really built on sentiment, more so than fundamentals,” Hassall said. “If we were to stay between $60 and $65 for the short term, that would be not too surprising.”

Inventories Fall

U.S. crude inventories fell 2.81 million barrels to 344.5 million last week, the Energy Department said July 15. Stockpiles were forecast to decline 2.1 million barrels, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Gasoline inventories climbed 1.44 million barrels to 214.6 million, the Energy Department report showed. Supplies were forecast to increase 875,000 barrels.

Gasoline for August delivery rose 0.65 cent, or 0.4 percent, to $1.72 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:36 a.m. Sydney time. Yesterday, it increased 0.54 cent, or 0.3 percent, to end the session at $1.7135.

Brent crude for August settlement declined 34 cents, or 0.5 percent, to end the session at $62.75 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe Exchange yesterday. The August contract expired yesterday. The more-actively traded September contract gained 23 cents, or 0.4 percent, to settle at $63.75.