BLBG:WTI Crude Little Changed After First Drop in Four Days on Supply
West Texas Intermediate crude fluctuated after the first drop in four days as industry data showed U.S. supplies climbed for a second week, countering an increase in Chinese demand.
Futures were little changed in New York after declining 0.6 percent yesterday. Crude inventories increased 680,000 barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said yesterday. An Energy Information Administration report today may show stockpiles gained 2 million barrels, rising from the most in more than 82 years, according to a Bloomberg News survey. The EIA cut its forecasts for WTI and Brent on increasing supplies and lower global consumption. China’s crude imports advanced to a three-month high.
“The market is seeing a little bit of squaring ahead of the U.S. inventory data this afternoon,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen, said today by phone.
WTI for June delivery was at $95.60 a barrel, down 2 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10:07 a.m. London time. The volume of all contracts traded was 33 percent below the 100-day average. Futures lost 54 cents to $95.62 yesterday, the lowest close since May 3.
Brent for June settlement fell 34 cents to $104.06 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $8.53 to WTI compared with $8.78 yesterday. The spread was $8.58 on May 3, the narrowest based on closing prices since December 2011.
EIA Forecasts
WTI will average $93.17 a barrel this year, down 75 cents from the April projection of $93.92, the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, said yesterday in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook. Brent will average $105.89 in 2013, down $2.07 from last month’s prediction.
Oil production outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will rise 2.1 percent to 53.85 million barrels a day in 2013, led by gains in the U.S. and Canada, according to the EIA. The forecast increased by 80,000 barrels from April’s report. U.S. output will climb 14 percent to 7.42 million barrels a day, the department said.
OPEC will produce 35.88 million barrels a day this year, the EIA said. Last month’s forecast was 35.98 million. OPEC’s 12 members pump about 40 percent of the world’s crude.
The EIA lowered its 2013 outlook for global oil consumption to 89.93 million barrels a day from 90 million estimated last month.
U.S. Stockpiles
U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 186,000 barrels last week, the API data showed. Supplies are projected to decline by 475,000 barrels in the EIA report, according to the median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Distillate-fuel stockpiles, including heating oil and diesel, rose 1.1 million barrels, according to the API. The EIA will report a gain of 500,000 barrels, the survey shows.
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 for its weekly survey.
“The outlook is going to remain muted for the U.S. for consumption of oil,” said David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. “There is also U.S. domestic supply, which continues to grow.”
China’s net crude imports, or overseas purchases minus exports, rose to the highest level in three months in April, data from the General Administration of Customs in Beijing showed today. Deliveries climbed to 5.62 million barrels a day, from 5.39 million a day in March. China is the world’s second- biggest oil consumer, accounting for 11 percent of the world’s demand in 2011, according to BP Plc (BP/)’s Statistical Review of World Energy.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Konstantin Rozhnov in London at krozhnov@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
