Oil traded below $80 a barrel for a fifth day in New York as rising U.S. crude stockpiles stoked speculation demand will falter, countering signs that output from Iran and Norway will be disrupted. Futures swung between gains and losses after the American Petroleum Institute said inventories rose 507,000 barrels last week. A government report today is forecast to show supplies slid 1.3 million barrels after unexpectedly climbing to a 22- year high the prior week. Iran’s exports will “gradually� fall amid maintenance on fields and reservoirs just as a European Union embargo starts, according to Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Ghalebani. Three more Norwegian fields shut in a labor dispute. “Inventory figures will be watched more than usual after we had that surprising increase,� said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “It will give some insight into whether it was a blip or whether there is a more disturbing trend of inventory builds, which would indicate weaker than anticipated demand. As we move into July we’re going to see what the actual impact is in Iran.� Oil for August delivery was at $79.45 a barrel, up 9 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:14 p.m. Sydney time. The contract yesterday rose 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $79.36, the highest close since June 22. Prices have fallen 23 percent this quarter, the biggest drop since the final three months of 2008. Brent oil for August settlement slid 22 cents to $92.80 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, after surging 2.2 percent yesterday. The European benchmark’s premium to West Texas Intermediate was at $13.36, from $13.66 yesterday. Iran Output Iran’s crude exports may decline by 20 percent to 30 percent because of field maintenance, Ghalebani, who is also head of National Iranian Oil Co., told reporters at an energy conference in Moscow. He didn’t say what the country’s rate of exports or production was. Iran produced an average 3.14 million barrels a day of oil in May, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, making it the second-biggest producer in the group, after Saudi Arabia. Ghalebani also said that “maybe, yes� Iran’s field maintenance was timed to coincide with the EU sanctions. The ban on oil imports from the Islamic Republic starts on July 1 as part of Western pressure to halt its nuclear program. Strike Escalation The strike by platform workers in Norway, which enters its fourth day today, has halted production of 180,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent. Companies decided to shut the Veslefrikk, Brage and Oseberg C fields yesterday, said Jan Hodneland, chief negotiator of the Norwegian Oil Industry Association, whose members include Statoil ASA (STL) and BP Plc. (BP/) The industrywide action is the nation’s first since 2004. The three main unions involved will meet June 29 to discuss a possible escalation, according to Leif Sande, president of Industry Energy. U.S. gasoline supplies rose 373,000 barrels last week, data from the API showed after the settlement yesterday. They are forecast to increase 1 million barrels, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Department report today. The API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski in Singapore at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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