West Texas
Intermediate oil dropped after a government report showed inventories of crude,
gasoline and diesel increased last week.
Futures
declined as much as 1.7 percent after the Energy Information Administration
said that crude supplies rose 18,000 barrels to 394.1 million. The report was
projected to show a 1.75 million-barrel decline, according to the median of 12
analyst responses in a survey. Gasoline and diesel inventories added a total of
more than 5 million barrels.
Prices
rebounded from the day’s lows earlier after data showed that the
WTI crude
for August delivery fell 93 cents, or 1 percent, to $94.39 a barrel at 11:09
a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $95.10 before
the release of the EIA report at 10:30 a.m. in
Brent oil
for August settlement dropped 66 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $100.60 a barrel on
the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume for all contracts was 24 percent
lower than the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade traded at a $6.21
premium to WTI after closing yesterday at $5.94, the lowest since January 2011.
WTI is
heading for a decline this quarter amid speculation that the U.S. Federal
Reserve will pare stimulus and as