Brent hovers near $109, recovery eyed post Sandy

Brent crude held steady near USD 109 a barrel on Wednesday after the huge storm Sandy whiplashed the US East Coast, reducing fuel demand even as refineries in the region gradually resumed operation.

Fuel supply in the storm-hit region is expected to bounce back quickly as most refineries emerged unscathed, but demand was likely to take a much bigger knock as roads and airports remained shut.

Brent crude for December delivery was down 1 cent at USD 109.07 by 0441 GMT. The front-month contract is set to post its largest monthly fall since June as concerns about a global economic slowdown outweighed supply risks in the Middle East.

US crude for December edged up 19 cents to USD 85.87, on track for the biggest monthly loss since May.

"We may have a rapid return of supply but the demand will be slower to recover," Tony Nunan, a risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp, said.

Millions of people were left reeling in the aftermath of the winds and heavy rains of the massive storm on Tuesday, as New York City and many parts of the eastern United States struggled with flooding and extensive power outages.

"This is really the last thing that the US needed," Nunan said, adding that Americans without insurance to cover storm damages would have less spare cash to spend just as the world's largest economy was showing signs of recovery.

The region's biggest refinery, in Philadelphia, and several others, were ramping up operations on Tuesday after escaping damage. But flooding at the region's second-largest refinery, Phillips 66's 238,000 barrel-per-day plant in Bayway, New Jersey, plus power glitches at two other plants and a key New Jersey terminal hub, slowed the recovery in fuel supplies.

The outage at Bayway, nicknamed the "gasoline machine" for its key role in supplying motor fuel to the New York City area, and a fire at BP Plc's residual hydrotreater in Texas City, boosted gasoline prices. November gasoline futures, which expire later today, were up 2.54 percent at USD 2.7980 a gallon.

Investors will continue to keep a close watch for any damage to oil infrastructure and on fuel demand after the storm.

"It is still too early to tell whether there has been any significant damage to the network of oil terminals, pipelines, and trucking facilities in the region, but if logistics are damaged, oil prices will likely remain under selling pressure," ANZ analysts said in a note.

The CME is set to resume floor trading of oil, natural gas and other commodities during normal hours on Wednesday at the NYMEX world headquarters in New York. But the US Energy Department has delayed its weekly petroleum inventory report by a day to Thursday.

US crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week, slightly more than expected, while distillate inventories dropped sharply even as refinery operations jumped, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed. Analysts had expected crude stockpiles to rise by 1.5 million barrels.