BLBG:WTI Falls From Two-Week High as Crude Stockpiles Seen Climbing
West Texas Intermediate oil fell from the highest price in almost two weeks before a report that may show U.S. crude stockpiles rose to an eight-month high. Refining in China dropped to the lowest level in four months.
Futures slid as much as 0.4 percent in New York after rising a third day yesterday. U.S. crude inventories probably climbed an eighth week in the seven days through March 8, the longest run of gains since May, a Bloomberg News survey showed before Energy Department data tomorrow. China cut oil-processing last month as factories slowed or halted production because of the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, figures from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed in Beijing.
WTI for April delivery declined as much as 37 cents to $91.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $91.70 at 2:27 p.m. Singapore time. The volume of all futures traded was 30 percent above the 100-day average. The contract rose 11 cents yesterday to $92.06, the highest close since Feb. 27. Prices are down 0.1 percent this year.
Brent for April settlement was down 47 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $109.75 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The volume of all futures traded was 10 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade’s premium to WTI futures was at $18.05. The differential shrank for a fourth day yesterday to $18.16, the narrowest spread since Jan. 31.
Technical Analysis
Brent oil platforms in the North Sea except for Cormorant Alpha, where a leak shut the pipeline system this month, are operating normally, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) said yesterday. The operator known as Taqa didn’t give a flow rate for the Brent Pipeline system in an e-mailed response to questions. The company shut the network, which has a capacity of 90,000 barrels a day, after discovering a leak at Cormorant Alpha on March 2. Initial flow resumed March 7.
U.S. crude supplies probably increased by 2.25 million barrels to 383.6 million, the highest level since June, according to the median estimate of eight analysts in the Bloomberg survey. Gasoline inventories dropped 1.25 million barrels, the survey shows. Distillate stockpiles, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, probably slid by 1.65 million barrels. The Energy Department is scheduled to release the weekly report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.
Cheaper U.S. Gasoline
The average retail gasoline price in the U.S. fell 1.3 percent to $3.71 a gallon last week, according to the Energy Information Administration Gasoline and Diesel update. It declined from $3.759 a gallon the previous week.
Daily oil-refining volumes in the China, the world’s second-largest crude consumer, dropped to 9.9 million barrels a day last month, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. That’s the lowest level since October. January processing was at about 10.1 million, combined data for the first two months of the year show. The nation’s crude output increased 0.8 percent to 16 million tons in February.
Oil in New York has technical support along its 100-day moving average, around $90.83 a barrel today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Futures halted intraday declines along this indicator for the past two days, signaling buy orders may be clustered close to it.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net
