Crude oil declined for the first time in three days as the dollar rebounded against the yen and euro, reducing the appeal of raw materials as an investment. Oil fell as much as 0.9 percent as the U.S. currency rose from its lowest level in 15 years versus the yen on concern Japanese authorities will renew action to weaken their currency. An Energy Department report tomorrow will probably show crude- oil supplies climbed 1.25 million barrels last week, according to the median of 12 responses in a Bloomberg News survey. “The stronger dollar has put some pressure on the oil market,” said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover Inc., a trading-advisory company in New Canaan, Connecticut. The oil market and the strength of the euro have been very tightly correlated recently.’’ Crude oil for December delivery declined 58 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $81.94 a barrel at 9:14 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures are up 4.1 percent from a year ago. Brent crude oil for December settlement slipped 42 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $83.12 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The yen weakened to 81.30 against the dollar from 80.81 yesterday, when it touched 80.41, the strongest level since April 1995. The dollar was 0.6 percent stronger against the euro at $1.3884, compared with $1.3965 yesterday. Gasoline Inventories U.S. gasoline supplies probably climbed by 250,000 barrels last week, according to the estimates in the Bloomberg survey. Supplies of distillate fuel probably decreased for a fifth week as distributors took deliveries before winter and exports to Europe increased, the Bloomberg News survey shows. The department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow in Washington. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will release its own weekly inventory report at 4:30 p.m. today. Workers at three French oil refineries voted to return to work yesterday as a contested pension bill neared parliamentary approval and the government warned that fuel shortages were hurting the economy. The nation’s eight remaining active plants are either on strike or shut because of a lack of crude. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net.

Source