Oil prices fell to near $99 a barrel Wednesday amid a stronger dollar and indications of weakening fuel demand in the U.S. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was down 28 cents to $99.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.89 to settle at $99.59 on Tuesday. In London, Brent crude for July delivery was up 15 cents at $112.68 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Victor Shum, an analyst with energy consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said traders took profits after data released late Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute showed a large gain in gasoline supply. This underscored concerns that higher pump prices are forcing Americans to drive less, he said. "We are heading into summer which is peak demand season for gasoline, so the report showing gasoline stocks increasing substantially signals that fuel demand may be weakening in the U.S.," Shum said. The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly inventory data — the market benchmark — later Wednesday. A stronger dollar also weighed on oil prices, making crude more expensive for investors holding other currencies. The euro slipped Wednesday to $1.4063 from $1.4113 on Tuesday, while the dollar rose to 82.07 Japanese yen from 81.97 yen. Oil has dropped from a 30-month high near $115 a barrel on May 2 but received a boost Tuesday after Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley said prices will rise later this year as the Libya conflict hit global supply. Goldman Sachs expects WTI to hit $135 per barrel by the end of 2012. Morgan Stanley predicts Brent will average $120 per barrel in 2011 while J.P. Morgan said Brent should hit $130 per barrel in the third quarter. In the midst of "sufficient supplies and anemic demand in a reluctant economy," some analysts, like those at U.S. energy consultancy Cameron Hanover, were skeptical about the banks' forecasts. "It makes us very suspicious when these big, well-connected investment banks tell us to buy something when it makes no sense," Cameron Hanover said in its daily energy report. In other Nymex trading in June contracts, heating oil rose 0.83 cent to $2.918 a gallon and gasoline dropped 2.05 cents to $2.9723 a gallon. Natural gas futures gained 0.7 cent to $4.352 per 1,000 cubic feet. ___ Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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