BLBG:Oil Trades Near One-Week Low Before Forecast Gain in U.S. Supply
Oil traded near the lowest level in more than a week in New York, after sliding the most in two months, before a report that may show rising stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer.
Futures were little changed after dropping 1.6 percent yesterday. Inventories probably increased for a third week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before Energy Information Administration data tomorrow. Oil may extend losses after dropping out of an upward-sloping trend channel, a technical indicator for rising prices, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Retail gasoline in the U.S. climbed the most since February 2011, tracking the longest stretch of weekly crude gains in more than eight years.
“There’s a little bit of risk-off creeping back into the market and commodities are having a rest,” said Jonathan Barratt, the chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin, a commodity newsletter in Sydney.
Crude for March delivery was at $95.99 a barrel, down 18 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:15 p.m. Singapore time. The volume of all futures traded was 50 percent above the 100-day average. The contract slid $1.60 yesterday to $96.17, the lowest close since Jan. 25 and the biggest decrease since Dec. 6.
Brent for March settlement declined 43 cents to $115.17 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 50 percent above the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $19.18 to West Texas Intermediate futures, from $19.43 yesterday.
Fuel Supplies
U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose 2.5 million barrels last week, according to the median estimate of seven analysts in the Bloomberg survey. Gasoline supplies increased 1.8 million barrels and distillate inventories, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, declined by 500,000, the survey shows.
The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release separate inventory 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 EIA, an Energy Department agency, for its weekly survey.
Oil slid yesterday amid signs of easing tension in the Middle East. Iran considers an offer to negotiate directly with the U.S. over its nuclear program a “step forward,” Ali Akbar Salehi, the Persian Gulf oil producer’s foreign minister, said Feb. 3. Talks to defuse tension over Iran’s nuclear work will be held in Kazakhstan Feb. 25, he said at the Munich Security Conference.
Pump Prices
The U.S. will offer bilateral negotiations if the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is prepared for “serious” discussions, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the day before at the same event.
Regular gasoline in the U.S. jumped 18 cents, or 5.4 percent, from a week earlier to $3.538 a gallon yesterday, the biggest gain since Feb. 28, 2011, according to data compiled by the EIA. Crude futures have risen more than $10 a barrel since mid-December and have gained eight weeks in a row, matching a streak that ended in August 2004.
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 at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net
