CN:Oil falls below $94 after mixed US supply report
SINGAPORE — Oil prices fell below $94 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a crude supply report reflected mixed signs about U.S. demand.
Benchmark oil for August delivery was down 29 cents to $93.88 a barrel in late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 54 cents to settle at $94.17 on Tuesday.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery was up 59 cents to $111.54 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories fell 81,000 barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted a drop of 2.0 million barrels.
Inventories of gasoline dropped 1.5 million barrels last week, surprising analysts who had forecast an increase of 1 million barrels. Distillates fell 541,000 barrels, the API said.
The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday.
"Demand figures have not been strong and we still have more crude oil in storage than in previous years," energy consultant Cameron Hanover said in a report.
In other Nymex trading in July contracts, heating oil rose 0.5 cents to $2.90 a gallon while gasoline gained 2.1 cents at $2.91 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 0.2 cents at $4.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.
