ADVERTISEMENT

Oil Dips as Industry Data Shows Surprise U.S. Crude Stock Build

Oil Held Aloft by Risk Rally as U.S. Stockpiles Seen Shrinking

Oil Dips as Industry Data Shows Surprise U.S. Crude Stock Build
A pumpjack operates above an oil well at night on the outskirts of Williston, North Dakota, U.S. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Crude dropped after an industry report showed an unexpected gain in U.S. stockpiles.

Futures in New York edged lower from the settlement on Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute was said to report across-the-board expansions in domestic oil, gasoline and distillate inventories last week. Analysts were anticipating a decline in crude supplies. The supply picture may grow more bearish as refiners begin seasonal maintenance, lowering demand for oil as fuel-making equipment shuts down.

“It definitely indicates possibly some higher global supply,” said Kyle Cooper, a consultant at ION Energy. Traders will be watching to see if the Energy Information Administration’s tally confirms the trend in its weekly report on Wednesday, he said.

Oil Dips as Industry Data Shows Surprise U.S. Crude Stock Build

Crude in New York is little changed from end-of-July levels amid a tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s biggest economies, the U.S. and China. Traders are also assessing impending disruptions to Iranian crude exports in the face of sanctions. United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in an interview in Dubai that there’s enough spare capacity within OPEC to increase output if needed.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index Index rose after dipping as much as 0.3 percent.

West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery traded at $68.47 a barrel at 4:42 p.m. after settling at $68.53 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 42 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent crude for October settlement fell 26 cents to end the session at $75.95 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The London futures’ premium over WTI was at $7.48, the widest since June.

The API was also said to report that stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 130,000 barrels last week. If confirmed by the EIA on Wednesday, it will have been the third straight week of increases.

As far as nationwide inventories are concerned, the report is expected to show a 1.49 million-barrel decline, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Other oil-market news:

  • Gasoline futures dipped 0.5 percent to settle at $2.0787 a gallon.
  • A former oil trader with Gunvor Group was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence after admitting to bribing public officials to secure oil cargoes from the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast.

--With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima, Mohammed Aly Sergie, Heesu Lee and Grant Smith.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Summers in New York at jsummers24@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net, Joe Carroll, Mike Jeffers

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.