West Texas Intermediate tumbled to a five-month low after an Energy Information Administration report showed a 4.6 percent surge in stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures.
Prices dropped as much as 1.5 percent and WTI’s discount to Brent widened more than $2.50 a barrel. Cushing inventories gained 1.69 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 8 to 38.2 million, a fifth consecutive increase, the EIA said. Total U.S. supplies jumped 2.64 million barrels. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a gain of 800,000.
WTI for December delivery fell $1.17, or 1.2 percent, to $92.71 a barrel at 11:16 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded at $93.03 before the report and slid as low as $92.51, the least since June 4. The volume of all futures traded was 31 percent above the 100-day average.
Brent for December settlement, which expires today, climbed $1.14, or 1.1 percent, to $108.26 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The more actively traded January contract rose $1.21 to $108.10.
WTI’s discount to the North Sea grade widened to $15.55 after touching $15.86, the most since March 18. The differential expanded for a fifth day.