Oil rose the most in six weeks in New York after the U.S. government reported that supplies dropped almost three times as much as expected. Crude advanced as much as 3.2 percent as the Energy Department said inventories fell for a fourth week, the longest stretch of declines this year. Imports decreased after the International Energy Agency’s June 23 announcement that its members will release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, including 30 million barrels from the U.S. “The numbers were very bullish for crude,” said Carl Larry, director of energy derivatives and research with Blue Ocean Brokerage in New York. “They show that we’re losing a lot of imports already, and we could see more of a decline in expected deliveries to the U.S. because of the IEA release.” Crude for August delivery rose $2.75, or 3 percent, to $95.64 a barrel at 11:33 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, recouping all the declines since last week’s IEA announcement. Prices have risen 26 percent in the past year. Brent oil for August settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange gained $3.03, or 2.8 percent, to $111.81 a barrel. Crude inventories declined 4.38 million barrels, or 1.2 percent, to 359.5 million barrels in the week ended June 24, more than the 1.5 million median forecast of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Imports fell 271,000 barrels a day, or 3 percent, to 8.88 million, the first drop in three weeks. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said yesterday in a separate report that crude stockpiles slipped 2.7 million barrels to 360.3 million, a 10-week low. Greek Vote Crude also advanced after Greek lawmakers voted to approve an austerity plan designed to stave off a debt default. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou clinched enough votes in parliament to pass the 78 billion-euro ($112 billion) package of budget cuts and state-asset sales. The euro climbed to a two-week high before the vote, then declined after it. A stronger euro bolsters commodities as an alternative investment to the U.S. dollar. “The situation in Greece has a psychological influence on the value of the euro, and that’s probably one of the biggest drivers for the oil market,” said Kyle Cooper, director of research for IAF Advisors in Houston. The euro traded at $1.4385 in New York, little changed from yesterday’s $1.4371. Earlier, it touched $1.4448. The index of pending home resales rose 8.2 percent from April after a revised 11 percent drop the prior month, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. Tropical Storm Arlene Prices also advanced amid concern that Tropical Storm Arlene, which formed yesterday in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, will cause a shutdown of ports in Mexico’s oil-producing Bay of Campeche, Eugen Weinberg, Frankfurt-based head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG, wrote in a report today. Mexico is the second-biggest oil exporter to the U.S. and supplied 1.19 million barrels a day in March, the last month for which Energy Department data are available. Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state-owned oil company and Latin America’s largest producer, has wells in the bay, located south of the storm. Arlene is moving west-northwest at 8 miles (13 kilometers) per hour, with a turn toward the west forecast today, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in a bulletin at about 10 a.m. Mexico City time. The storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, less than the 74-mph threshold for hurricanes. Crude also rose amid speculation OPEC may reduce output in response to IEA’s release of oil from reserves. “There are concerns Saudi Arabia will cut production” in response to the IEA move, said Roland Stenzel, an oil trader at E&T Energie Handelsgesellschaft mbH, said from Vienna. The London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported on June 10, two days after OPEC’s last meeting, that Saudi Arabia would increase output to 10 million barrels a day. It produced 8.9 million barrels in May, according to Bloomberg estimates. To contact the reporter on this story: Margot Habiby in Dallas at mhabiby@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net.

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