Oil declined for the first time in four days in New York as a strengthening dollar curbed investor demand for commodities and traders bet stockpiles in the U.S. are rising. Futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent as the dollar climbed against all except one of its 16 most-traded peers. An Energy Department report today may show crude inventories increased by 1 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday stockpiles surged 6.4 million barrels, the most since March. “Oil continues to react to dollar movements,” said Ben Westmore, a minerals and energy economist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Melbourne. “With seasonal maintenance and outages at refineries, I’d expect to see some build in crude stockpiles.” Crude for December delivery fell as much as 50 cents to $82.05 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $82.13 at 1:15 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract added 3 cents to $82.55, the highest settlement since Oct. 18. Futures are up 3.4 percent this year. The dollar advanced after the U.S. Conference Board said yesterday consumer confidence rebounded in October from a seven- month low. The greenback rose 0.3 percent versus the euro and the yen. The Energy Department report today at 10:30 a.m. in Washington may show U.S. gasoline stockpiles increased by 625,000 barrels last week, according to the Bloomberg News survey. The industry-funded API yesterday said supplies of the motor fuel declined 1.8 million barrels. Gasoline Demand U.S. gasoline consumption dropped 1.7 percent last week, the biggest weekly slide since Sept. 10, according to MasterCard Inc. Motorists bought an average 9.1 million barrels a day of the fuel in the week ended Oct. 22, the second-largest payments network company said yesterday in its SpendingPulse report. Distillate fuel inventories, including heating oil and diesel, decreased 1.5 million barrels last week, based on the Bloomberg News survey. Supplies climbed 818,000 barrels, according to yesterday’s API report. “We need a series of draws, especially in distillates and crude, in order to see the market tightening,” National Australia Bank’s Westmore said. “Given the size of distillate stocks at the moment, I’d expect refinery runs to continue being weak.” Brent crude for December settlement fell as much as 53 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $83.13 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Yesterday, the contract gained 12 cents to $83.66. French Protests Crude also declined as protests by French oil-industry workers against pension reforms eased. Industrial action across France forced nine of 11 refineries to shut, causing fuel shortages and disrupting exports. A quarter of France’s refinery workers agreed to go back to work after the French Senate passed President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension bill, paving the way for the minimum retirement age to be raised to 62 from 60. The bill goes for a final vote at the National Assembly today. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell in Singapore at crussell7@bloomberg.net

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