Crude oil was little changed as concerns Federal Reserve stress tests on U.S. banks may show some companies need additional capital, extending the global recession and limiting fuel demand. A U.S. Energy Department report today may show that crude- oil inventories increased 2.5 million barrels last week as refiners produced less fuels on weaker demand for gasoline and diesel, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Oil fell yesterday as U.S. equity markets dropped for the first time in three days. “In general the economy is still not that bullish,” said Clarence Chu, a trader at options dealer Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. “There is nothing to support the market moving higher.” Crude oil for June delivery was at $53.85 a barrel, up 1 cent, at 11:55 a.m. Singapore time after rising as much as 0.8 percent to $54.25. Yesterday, the contract dropped 63 cents to settle at $53.84 a barrel. Oil is up 21 percent this year. The dollar gained against the euro today on demand for the relative safety of the currency on concerns about the government stress tests. Investors tend to sell dollar-denominated commodities as the greenback falls since their need for an inflation hedge declines. Regulators have determined that Bank of America Corp. has the largest need for capital among the 19 biggest U.S. banks undergoing the stress tests. API Draws Oil rose earlier today after a report from the industry- funded American Petroleum Institute, released after the end of floor trading yesterday, showed U.S. crude supplies fell 1 million barrels to 373.8 million last week. A Bloomberg News survey forecasts that oil supplies climbed from 374.7 million in the previous week. “We have to wait and see what the data shows tonight and if that is consistent with the API numbers, it will be a bit more supportive for the oil price,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. Crude oil stockpiles rose 4.05 million barrels to 374.7 million in the week ended April 24, 15 percent above the five- year average for the period. Gasoline stockpiles probably rose 650,000 barrels from 212.6 million the prior week, according to the survey. Supplies of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably rose 1 million barrels from 144.1 million. Refiners Lag U.S. refineries probably operated at 83 percent of capacity last week, up 0.3 percentage point from the previous week, according to the median of responses in the survey. That would be down from 85 percent in the same week a year earlier and 89 percent in 2007. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey. Oil-supply totals from the API and DOE moved in the same direction 76 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed at three meetings last year that the 11 members with quotas would cut output by 4.2 million barrels a day to 24.845 million. OPEC oil output averaged 27.58 million barrels a day last month, down 75,000 from March, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, cut production by 25,000 barrels a day to 7.925 million in April, the survey showed. That was 126,000 barrels a day less than the kingdom’s target. Saudi Price Rise Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest state-owned oil company, raised the official selling prices for light and medium crude oil grades to the U.S. in June. Heavy crude prices were left unchanged. Light grades need less-complex processing to be transformed into high-value products such as gasoline. Asian customers will also pay less for light Saudi crude types, and more for the heavier oil grades. Super Light prices were cut $1.30 to a premium of $1.80 above the average of Oman and Dubai, two benchmark grades for regional refiners. The Heavy crude export price increased $1.15 to a discount of 70 cents. Brent crude oil for June settlement was unchanged at $54.12 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange at 11:56 a.m. Singapore time. The contract declined 46 cents, or 0.8 percent, to end the session at $54.12 a barrel yesterday.

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