Oil slid from the highest level in almost three weeks amid signs of slowing economic growth in China and concern that Europe’s bailout plan will falter. Futures fell as much as 0.4 percent in New York, dropping for the first time in five days. Macquarie Group Ltd. cut its 2012 economic-growth forecast for China, the world’s second- biggest oil user. A court ruling is due in Germany on the country’s participation in the euro-area fund for fighting the region’s debt crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting tomorrow where it may announce measures to boost the economy amid slowing jobs growth. “The market is waiting on the two big news events in the German court decision and whether or not the Fed does something,� said Ric Spooner, a chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “At best, I think with oil we’re looking at a fairly gradual expansion in demand against a backdrop of fairly well-covered supply.� Crude for October delivery decreased as much as 40 cents to $96.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $96.21 at 1:52 p.m. Singapore time. The contract yesterday rose 12 cents to $96.54, the highest close since Aug. 22. Prices are 2.7 percent lower this year. Brent oil for October settlement fell 27 cents to $114.54 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade’s premium to West Texas Intermediate was at $18.33, from $18.27 yesterday. Well Balanced Brent, a benchmark grade for more than half of the world’s oil, has risen 29 percent since this year’s lowest close on June 21, as a European Union embargo on crude purchases from Iran took full effect on July 1. Global supply, demand and inventories of crude don’t justify the increase in prices, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said yesterday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The kingdom is the world’s largest crude exporter. Macquarie Group cut its 2012 economic-growth forecast for China to 7.7 percent from 8.1 percent in a report e-mailed today, saying it sees the slowdown continuing into the third quarter and limited room for monetary expansion next year amid inflationary pressure. Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court will tomorrow rule on the country’s participation in the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent 500 billion-euro ($638 billion) fund that offers loans to member states and may buy their bonds to cut borrowing costs. Germany will be the biggest contributor to the fund with a 27 percent share, a statement from the European Commission shows. The Netherlands holds elections the same day. Fed Meeting The U.S. Fed may announce a third round of asset purchases, or quantitative easing, after its meeting. The nation, the world’s biggest oil consumer, added 96,000 workers in August compared with 141,000 in July, Labor Department figures showed Sept. 7. U.S. crude inventories probably dropped 2.63 million barrels last week, according to the median of eight analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Department report tomorrow. Gasoline supplies may have slipped 1.65 million barrels, the survey shows. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will release separate stockpile data 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. Oil in New York has technical support along the middle Bollinger Band on the daily chart, at around $94.30 a barrel today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Futures halted declines near this indicator in July and August. Buy orders tend to be clustered near chart-support levels. To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Anderson at manderson34@bloomberg.net

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