West Texas Intermediate oil fell for the first time in six days, widening its discount to Brent, on speculation that the closure of an Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) pipeline will increase U.S. inventories.

WTI slid as much as 1.3 percent as Exxon shut the Pegasus pipeline, which moves oil from Illinois to the U.S. Gulf Coast, March 29 after heavy Canadian crude leaked in Arkansas. Exxon hasn’t said when it will reopen.

The 96,000 barrel-a-day Pegasus pipeline will need to be excavated as Exxon determines what caused the breach, and Exxon is awaiting regulatory approval to begin excavation work and repairs, Alan Jeffers, a company spokesman in Irving, Texas, said yesterday.

Pegasus, a 20-inch (51-centimeter) line that runs to Nederland, Texas, from Patoka, Illinois, serves refineries near the Beaumont, Texas, area close to the Louisiana border, Jeffers said. There are four plants near Beaumont able to process about 1.4 million barrels a day of crude, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Oil also dropped as U.S. manufacturing expanded less than forecast in March. Futures extended their decline as the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index fell to 51.3 last month from 54.2 a the prior month earlier, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. The median forecast of economists surveyed was 54. Figures higher than 50 signal expansion.

WTI for May delivery slipped to $95.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for May settlement dropped 21 cents to $109.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European grade’s premium to WTI widened to as much as $13.86 a barrel after settling at $12.79 on March 28, the narrowest level since June 25.

Gold prices are stable, while the major European exchanges closed for a holiday, and investors are less concerned about the situation in Cyprus. In the first quarter gold cheaper by 4 per cent due to the rally in equity markets and a weakening euro.

Cyprus crisis, which kept investors in suspense the last 2 weeks, winding down on Thursday resumed banks island country, and their discovery is not associated with some disastrous consequences. The Central Bank introduced strict measures to restrict the movement of capital, slightly loosening them on Friday - removed limits on domestic transactions with bank cards. Declared parameters expropriation of large deposits in the Bank of Cyprus, 37,5% of the contributions of over 100 thousand Euros will be exchanged for shares of the bank, and by 22.5% of the amount will not accrue interest. In this case, the government is seeking options for the resuscitation of the economy, the threat of default Cyprus, meanwhile, reduced day by day.

Market on Monday is in an indeterminate state. Usually a strong indicator of PMI China attracts investors to the stock market, and does not support the price of gold, but this time it's the opposite. Tensions over North Korea's increasing uncertainty in the market.

China's official PMI index rose in March to a maximum of 11 months of 50.9 points from 50.1 in February, while economists polled by Reuters predicted value of 52 points.

North Korea said Saturday that enters into a state of war with South Korea in response to a "hostile" military exercises. South Korea on Monday promised to answer retaliation to an attack by North Korea.

Premium for bullion held in Singapore at $ 1,20-1,50 per ounce to spot price in London. Financial markets in Europe, Hong Kong and Australia on Monday closed on Easter.

Cost June gold futures on the COMEX today is trading in the range of 1595.2 - 1601.6 per ounce.