Oil jumps above $79 in Asia to 2009 high

Oil prices jumped above $79 a barrel to a 2009 high Monday in Asia as investors looked to the corporate earnings of big U.S. retailers this week for signs the consumer may be regaining confidence.

Benchmark crude for November delivery rose as much as 52 cents to $79.05 a barrel but later fell back and was up 24 cents at $78.77 by midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 95 cents to settle at $78.53 on Friday.

Last week, crude broke out of a five-month trading range between $65 and $75 a barrel on a weakening U.S. dollar and expectations that oil demand will eventually recover as the global economy grows next year.

Investors will be eyeing third quarter results from retailers this week for clues about the strength of the U.S. consumer. Apple Inc., McDonald's Corp., appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. and toy maker Hasbro Inc. are among those reporting this week.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil rose 0.62 cent to $2.03 a gallon. Gasoline for November delivery slipped 0.48 cent to $1.97 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery jumped 6.2 cents to $4.84 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Oil falls below $70 a barrel as traders focus on weak US demand

Benchmark crude for November delivery lost $1.15 to trade at $69.73 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude gave up 68 cents to $67.88 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Prices dropped immediately after the Energy Information Administration reported that the nation's oil supply dropped by 1 million barrels last week. The drop was unexpected -- analysts thought stockpiles would grow by 1.9 million barrels -- but investors found little else to like in the report.

Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, said crude demand continues to be unimpressive, noting that the U.S. still has more oil in storage than last year.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices fell Wednesday as traders shrugged off an unexpected drop in crude supplies and focused instead on government data that showed Americans still have little appetite for more petroleum.

American petroleum consumption has cooled so much that Sunoco, Inc. announced Tuesday that it would idle its Eagle Point refinery in Westville, New Jersey. As part of the decision, Sunoco said it would furlough 400 workers and cut its dividend.

"Most people look at Sunoco and wonder, who else is going to shut down until things improve?" Kloza said.

The EIA report also said that total petroleum supplies grew last week. Gasoline inventories grew by 2.9 million barrels last week and distillate fuel supplies grew by 700,000 barrels. Analysts expected smaller increases for both.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for November delivery gave up 4.54 cents to trade at $1.7273 per gallon, and heating oil lost 2.53 cents to $1.7889 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery added 6.1 cents to $4.941 per 1,000 cubic feet.