Crude: +0.4 (vs. +1.6 fcst)
- Cushing: +0.8
Gasoline: -0.9 (vs. +0.7 fcst)
Distillates: +0.1 (vs. +1.2 fcst)
May 11 (Reuters) -- Crude oil futures bounced off early lows and rose intraday, lifted by stronger refined products futures, higher demand growth forecasts by OPEC and the U.S. government and data showing continued rising oil demand in China.
Weakness was focused at the front-end of the U.S. futures curve, with the premium of July to June contract widening from $3.29 a barrel on Monday to $3.93 in late Tuesday trade, while the discount of U.S. futures to Brent widened $1.00 to $4.32 a barrel. Rising inventories at the Cushing delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange's futures contract, have weighed on front-month futures over recent weeks.
"Certainly worries about Greece and Europe have not gone away. Also, concern about China inflation and the potential for further tightening. High Cushing crude stocks and expectations for additional supply builds provided some pressure and the stock market also was unable to sustain gains," said Tom Bentz, analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc in New York.