Oil traded near the lowest in almost a month on speculation fuel demand may falter as the U.S. economy slows and China acts to cool its fastest inflation in almost three years. Futures were little changed after earlier sliding as much as 0.8 percent, the third straight decline. A report today may show U.S. retail sales fell in May for the first time in 11 months. Oil recovered after China said industrial production slowed less than economists forecast last month. Consumer prices climbed 5.5 percent, the quickest pace since 2008. “The market is concerned about economic growth,” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director of Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, who predicted crude in New York will average $100 a barrel this year. “The economics suggest oil should be lower rather than higher.” Crude for July delivery fell as much as 75 cents to $96.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $97.08, down 22 cents, at 11:17 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract declined $1.99, or 2 percent, to $97.30, the lowest settlement since May 17. Futures have gained 29 percent the past year. Brent oil for July delivery on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange climbed 10 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $119.20 a barrel after sliding as much as 0.5 percent. The more actively traded August contract was up 10 cents at $118.52. The European benchmark contract climbed to $22.11 a barrel over U.S. futures, a record premium. Chinese Economy China’s factory output expanded 13.3 percent last month, the statistics bureau said in Beijing today. That compared with 13.4 percent in April and a median 13.1 percent forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The gain in consumer prices matched the median estimate. The ruling Communist Party aims to tame inflation and sustain growth after riots this month by migrant workers in the manufacturing hub of Guangdong showed the risk of social instability. The central bank has raised interest rates four times since October to cool the economy. China processed 6 percent more oil in May from a year earlier, or 38.47 million metric tons, according to data released today by the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing today. Gasoline output climbed 3.6 percent and diesel production rose 8.2 percent. China uses more oil than any nation except the U.S. ‘Anemic Recovery’ U.S. advance retail sales probably dropped 0.5 percent last month, reversing a 0.5 percent gain in April, according to the median estimate of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. “Almost every day, there is some fresh economic data that seems to fit better in an anemic recovery than in one that is robust or dynamic,” Peter Beutel, the president of Cameron Hanover Inc., an energy advisory company in New Canaan, Connecticut, said in an e-mailed note today. U.S. gasoline stockpiles probably increased for a sixth week last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Department report tomorrow. Supplies rose 1 million barrels from 214.5 million, based on the median estimate of eight analysts. Crude inventories are expected to have decreased 1.75 million barrels from 369 million, the survey showed. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will report its own stockpile data today. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in Singapore at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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