Oil swung between gains and losses in New York before a report that may show stockpiles increased for the first time in three weeks in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures fluctuated after declining for a third day in four yesterday. Crude inventories rose 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before government data today. Supplies climbed 1.6 million barrels, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said yesterday. The Department of Energy lowered its 2012 estimates for U.S. gasoline demand and the price of West Texas Intermediate crude. Brent oil’s premium to WTI advanced to the widest in almost a year. “The market is factoring in an inventory build and a little bit more demand destruction,� said Jonathan Barratt, chief executive officer of Barratt’s Bulletin, a commodity newsletter in Sydney. Crude for November delivery was at $91.46 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 21 cents, at 2:40 p.m. Singapore time. The contract fell 1.2 percent yesterday to $91.25, the lowest close since Oct. 8. Prices are down 7.5 percent this year. Brent oil for November settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange advanced 57 cents to $114.90 a barrel. The European benchmark crude was at a $23.44 premium to WTI. The spread was $23.08 yesterday, the widest since Oct. 20, 2011. Fuel Demand Oil may extend losses in New York after failing to breach technical resistance along its middle Bollinger Band, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Futures yesterday reversed gains after reaching this indicator, at around $93.54 a barrel today. Sell orders tend to be clustered near chart-resistance levels. Crude supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the WTI futures contract, were up 297,000 barrels last week at 44.1 million, the API data showed. U.S. gasoline consumption will average 8.72 million barrels a day this year, down from 8.75 million in 2011 and a projection last month of 8.73 million, the DOE’s Energy Information Administration said yesterday in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. WTI will average $95.55 a barrel this year, down from its September forecast of $95.66, the report showed. Gasoline for November delivery in New York was little changed after closing at $2.9593 yesterday, the highest this month. Stockpiles of the motor fuel increased 2.5 million barrels last week, the API said. The DOE report today will show a gain of 250,000 barrels, according to the median estimate of 11 analysts surveyed. Distillate supplies, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, decreased 6.2 million barrels, the API report showed. A 1 million-barrel drop is projected in the government data. California Gasoline Gasoline at the pump in California declined from a record as refiners began making a different blend of fuel after receiving permission from the state. The average price slid to $4.666 a gallon yesterday from an all-time high of $4.671 on Oct. 9, according to AAA, the nation’s largest motoring organization. Wholesale California-blend gasoline in Los Angeles slid 22.5 cents to 34 cents a gallon above New York futures after the California Energy Commission said inventories in the state climbed 4.9 percent last week. Prices had surged after a power failure at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s 150,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Torrance near Los Angeles, a fire at Chevron Corp. (CVX)’s plant in Richmond close to San Francisco, and the shutdown of a Chevron pipeline that delivers crude to Northern California. The California Air Resources Board granted refineries permission on Oct. 7 to make gasoline with a higher vapor pressure, allowing them to produce more of the fuel by adding butane to the mix. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Ramsey Al-Rikabi in Singapore at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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