Oil fell, snapping the longest run of gains in a month, as U.S. industry data showed crude stockpiles rose.
Futures lost as much as 1.3 percent in New York after climbing 4 percent the previous four sessions. U.S. stockpiles expanded by 851,000 barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report on Tuesday. Government data on Wednesday is forecast to show inventories extended declines from a record reached at the end of March.
Oil in New York and London tumbled into a bear market last week on concerns that rising global supply will counter output cuts from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners. U.S. crude inventories remain stubbornly high, more than 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
“It has become obvious by now that the current OPEC plan is not working, or at least has not been working in the first half of the year,” said Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. “Bears will probably become the more dominant factor again” if the API stockpile figures are repeated by U.S. government data.
West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost as much as 57 cents to $43.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $44.02 at 9:28 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 8 percent above the 100-day average. The contract gained 86 cents to close at $44.24 on Tuesday.
Brent for August settlement was down 15 cents at $46.50 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after falling as much as 0.9 percent earlier. Prices added 82 cents to $46.65 on Tuesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.52 to WTI.
U.S. gasoline stockpiles increased by 1.35 million barrels last week, the API said, according to people familiar with the data. American crude inventories probably slid by 2.25 million barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey before the EIA report.
Brent for August settlement was down 15 cents at $46.50 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after falling as much as 0.9 percent earlier. Prices added 82 cents to $46.65 on Tuesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.52 to WTI.
U.S. gasoline stockpiles increased by 1.35 million barrels last week, the API said, according to people familiar with the data. American crude inventories probably slid by 2.25 million barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey before the EIA report.
- Bloomberg -