(Fixes typo and link to story in 17th paragraph)
* Jan nonfarm payrolls grew much higher than forecast
* Unemployment rate drops to near three-year low
* Iranian leader lobs retaliation threat for embargo
* CFTC-Oil speculators raise U.S. crude net longs
* Coming up: API petroleum data, 4:30 p.m. EST, Tuesday
NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures
rose on Friday, snapping a five-day losing streak, as a surprise
surge in U.S. jobs for January added to recent signs of
improving economic growth and raised hopes for better oil demand
going forward.
The upbeat economic outlook added to early gains triggered
by a warning from Iran's supreme leader that the country would
retaliate against the West for imposing sanctions on the Islamic
Republic over its nuclear program.
Despite the day's gains, prices fell for the week, pressured
by midweek inventory data which showed a higher-than-expected
rise in domestic oil stockpiles and an unexpectedly large
increase in gasoline inventories.
Heating oil futures paced the energy complex, with the
front-month March contract closing at an 11-week high due
to a drop in inventories for six consecutive weeks.
Weak demand for gasoline pulled down RBOB futures for the
week, though they ended up on the day.
The U.S. economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine
months in January and the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped
to a near three-year low, Labor Department data showed.
Nonfarm payrolls jumped 243,000, as factory jobs grew by the
most in a year. The jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent - the
lowest since February 2009 - from 8.5 percent in December.
The gain in employment was the largest since April and far
outstripped the 150,000 predicted in a Reuters poll of
economists, suggesting less likehood of further stimulus from
the Federal Reserve to spur a stronger recovery.
The situation in the Middle East remained in traders' focus.
The U.N. Security Council meets Saturday morning to vote on
a European-Arab draft resolution endorsing an Arab League plan
calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power,
council envoys said.
FUNDAMENTALS
* On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March
delivery settled at $97.84 a barrel, gaining $1.48, or
1.54 percent. For the week, front-month crude fell $1.72, or
1.73 percent, from the $99.56 on Jan. 27. It fell after gaining
in the week to Jan. 27th
* In London, ICE Brent crude for March delivery
closed at $114.58 a barrel, gaining $2.51, or 2.24 percent, the
highest since Nov. 8's settlement at $115. For the week,
front-month Brent rose $3.12, or 2.8 percent, extending gains to
a second straight week.
* Brent's premium against U.S. crude widened further to
$16.74 at the close, from $15.71 on Thursday. Before the close,
the premium rose above $17, the widest since Nov. 9, when it
reached $18.80.
* NYMEX March heating oil ended at $3.1144 a gallon,
rising 6.15 cents or 2.01 percent, the highest since Nov. 16's
settlement at $3.1346. For the week, the contract rose 4.4
cents, or 1.43 percent, from the $3.0704 close on Jan. 27.
* NYMEX March RBOB gasoline closed at $2.9144 a
gallon, up 4.55 cents, or 1.59 percent, highest since Jan. 27's
settlement at $2.9268. For the week, the contract edged down
1.24 cents, or 0.42 pct.
* Hedge funds and other large investors increased their net
long positions in NYMEX crude futures and options by 10,079
contracts to 204,044 in the week to Jan. 24, the highest level
since November, the U.S. Commodity Trading Commission said in a
weekly report.
* Pilots resumed moving ships outbound from the major oil
port of Houston after fog that had persisted for a day and a
half lifted on Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
* Sunoco Inc shut a reformer at the Girard Point
section of its 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Philadelphia
after a loss of power in a compressor on Thursday, according to
a filing with pollution regulators.
* China's net crude oil imports are expected to rise 5.9
percent this year, the slowest growth rate since 2006, according
to a local media report from Beijing, which cited a report by
China National Petroleum Corp.
* Britain's service sector expanded at its fastest pace in
10 months in January, exceeding every expectation while activity
in the Indian and Russian services companies grew at the fastest
pace in six months.
* The euro zone's vast services sector snapped four months
of decline by expanding last month, though weakly. The latest
purchasing managers' index (PMIs) suggests that if a recession
occurs, it will be mild, economists said
MARKETS NEWS
* The dollar rallied against the euro after the U.S. jobs
report.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index vaulted to an 11-year
high, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed to a near
four-year peak and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose to its
highest level in more than six months on the jobs data as
optimism grew that the labor market was on a path to recovery.
* Copper surged nearly 3 percent to hit the highest level
in a week, driven by the strong U.S. jobs and services sector
data. [MET/L:]
* Gold extended losses and were down about 2 percent, its
biggest one-day loss in more than a month as the jobs data
dashed expectations of a further stimulus from the U.S. Federal
Reserve.
UPCOMING EVENTS/DATA
* American Petroleum Institute weekly U.S. petroleum stocks
data, 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), Tuesday.
SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT DAY AGO
CHNG CHNG VOL VOL
CLc1 97.84 1.48 1.5% 96.01 98.03 305,406 331,240
CLc2 98.23 1.49 1.5% 96.41 98.40 112,001 86,850
LCOc1 114.58 2.51 2.2% 111.93 114.71 226,215 213,050
RBc1 2.9144 0.0455 1.6% 2.8718 2.9259 43,230 58,572
RBc2 3.0466 0.0483 1.6% 3.0009 3.0521 29,663 36,840
HOc1 3.1144 0.0615 2.0% 3.0482 3.1186 59,749 61,641
HOc2 3.0946 0.0617 2.0% 3.0297 3.0980 21,970 28,216
TOTAL MARKET VOLUME OPEN INTEREST
CURRENT Feb 02 30D AVG Feb 02 NET CHNG
CRUDE 738,228 745,272 548,662 1,437,443 -19,444
RBOB 135,272 156,535 131,906 329,690 5,657
HO 129,876 148,619 142,192 284,310 6,320
(Reporting By Gene Ramos; Editing by David Gregorio)
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