SINGAPORE--Oil prices fell below US$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 US$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 US$94.17 on Tuesday.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery was up 59 cents to US$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 U.S. 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 US$2.90 a gallon while gasoline gained 2.1 cents at US$2.91 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 0.2 cents at US$4.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.
