By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY(MarketWatch) — Crude oil futures lost ground in electronic trading on Wednesday as the dollar strengthened, ahead of the release of a closely watched inventory report.
Crude for July delivery CL1N -0.44% fell 44 cents, or 0.4%, to $98.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
Moderately positive economic reports out of the U.S. and China, along with a weaker dollar, fuelled a rally of more than 2% earlier in the North American session.
The U.S. Department of Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases its weekly inventories on Wednesday.
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Analysts polled by Platts expect the EIA to show a decline in crude-oil stocks of 1.9 million barrels, a rise in gasoline stocks of 1.3 million barrels, and an increase in distillates by 1.1 million barrels.
A report from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday showed crude-oil inventories fell 3 million barrels in the week ended June 10.
Gasoline stockpiles rose 1.1 million barrels, according to the trade group, and supplies of distillates declined 426,000 barrels.
Analysts at Barclays Capital said “oil demand remains very well supported,” with Chinese data for May still painting “an extremely positive picture for underlying oil demand.”
“We would expect International Energy Agency and the Organization of Petroleum
