BLBG:WTI Oil Trades Near Week’s Low Before Stockpile Data
West Texas Intermediate oil traded near the lowest level in almost a week before data forecast to show crude stockpiles rose in the U.S., where lawmakers remain deadlocked over extending the debt limit to avoid default.
Futures were little changed in New York after declining 0.8 percent yesterday. Crude inventories probably rose a third week, adding 1.6 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey before a government report tomorrow. President Barack Obama reiterated that he won’t negotiate with Republicans over the partial government shutdown and the U.S. debt limit.
“The rise in demand is well covered by the rise in supply,” said Hans van Cleef, an energy economist at ABN Amro Bank in Amsterdam, who predicts WTI will slide toward $100 a barrel by year-end. “I’m neutral with a slightly bearish bias. Signs of economic recovery are still weak.”
WTI for November delivery was at $103.31, up 28 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:32 a.m. London time. The contract slipped 81 cents to $103.03 yesterday, the lowest settlement since Oct. 1. The volume of all futures traded was about 39 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for November settlement rose 2 cents to $109.70 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark was at a premium of $6.39 to WTI futures, down from $6.65 yesterday.
Dated Brent
Daily exports of North Sea Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk crudes, which make up the Dated Brent benchmark, will jump in November to the most in 21 months, loading programs obtained by Bloomberg News show.
Shipments will average 980,000 barrels a day, up 10 percent from a revised 890,323 barrels in October, according to the plans. Dated Brent is used to price more than half of the world’s crude.
U.S. gasoline supplies probably rose by 1 million barrels last week, according to the median estimate of nine analysts in the Bloomberg survey before figures from the Energy Information Administration. Distillate inventories, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, are projected to decrease by 1.4 million, the survey shows.
Refinery Slowdown
Refineries probably cut their utilization rate to 88 percent last week, the lowest level in four months, the survey showed. Units were idled for maintenance after the peak summer gasoline-demand season, which ended with Labor Day on Sept. 2.
The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute in Washington is scheduled to release separate inventory data today. The API collects supply information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, for its weekly survey.
Many U.S. government services have been shuttered for a week after a budget impasse and the country is nine days away from running out of borrowing authority. Republicans are insisting on changing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, while Obama refuses to engage in discussions about policy conditions tied to opening the government or raising the debt limit.
The U.S., the world’s largest user of crude, is expected to account for 21 percent of global oil consumption this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
The oil market is balanced with enough supply, Abdalla El-Badri, the secretary general for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in a speech at the Kuwait Oil & Gas Show and Conference yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net Grant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss on sev@bloomberg.net
