Crude oil trims biggest monthly slip since May

PUNE: Crude oil rose on Wednesday, trimming the biggest monthly decline since May, as refineries started resuming operations after superstorm Sandy moved away from the US East Coast.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained as much as 1.1 % on Wednesday after advancing 0.2% on Tuesday. Philadelphia Energy Solutions' 355,000 barrel-a-day Pennsylvania refinery is restoring operations and NuStar Energy's 74,000 barrel-a-day plant in Paulsboro, New Jersey, will be at full production on Thursday, the companies said. Seven refineries with a total capacity of 1.29 million barrels a day had shut or reduced operations because of Sandy.

Crude for December delivery rose as much as 91 cents to $86.59 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), and was at $86.34 at 10:29 am London time. Prices gained 14 cents on Tuesday to $85.68, the highest close since October 26.