By Ben Sharples and Ann Koh
March 23 -- Crude oil fell in New York before a report forecast to show that inventories in the U.S. rose and as the dollar increased toward a three-week high against the euro, reducing demand for commodities as an inflation hedge.
U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose 1.43 million barrels, increasing for an eighth week, according to the Bloomberg News survey. It would be the longest stretch of consecutive advances since May. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. The U.S. currency gained against the euro amid speculation European Union leaders won’t agree on an aid package for Greece at a summit this week.
“I don’t see with the fundamentals that oil prices should be squeezed dramatically higher,” said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney.
Crude oil for May delivery fell as much as 42 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $81.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $81.28 a barrel at 4:07 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose 63 cents to settle at $81.60. April futures expired yesterday.
The dollar climbed to $1.3523 per euro as of 6:53 a.m. in London from $1.3558 in New York yesterday, when it rose to $1.3464, the highest level since March 2.
Gasoline inventories probably declined 1.75 million barrels from 227.3 million the previous week, according to the median of 10 estimates before an Energy Department report.
“The EIA data tends to suggest that oil demand in the U.S. is recovering, particularly gasoline, but it’s still at low levels,” said Moore.
Greece
Oil dropped as much as 2.6 percent yesterday and the U.S. currency rose to the highest level since March 2 after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said investors shouldn’t expect a European Union summit this week to agree on aid for Greece.
Crude oil also came under pressure as China, the world’s fastest-growing energy consumer, said that record oil imports in February boosted its stockpiles by 5.2 percent from January.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has spare production capacity of more than 6 million barrels a day, Germanico Pinto, OPEC’s president and Ecuador’s oil minister, said at a conference yesterday in Geneva. That’s a “comfortable cushion of spare capacity,” he said. The group controls about 40 percent of global crude supply.
March 23 -- Crude oil fell in New York before a report forecast to show that inventories in the U.S. rose and as the dollar increased toward a three-week high against the euro, reducing demand for commodities as an inflation hedge.
U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose 1.43 million barrels, increasing for an eighth week, according to the Bloomberg News survey. It would be the longest stretch of consecutive advances since May. The Energy Department is scheduled to release its weekly report at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. The U.S. currency gained against the euro amid speculation European Union leaders won’t agree on an aid package for Greece at a summit this week.
“I don’t see with the fundamentals that oil prices should be squeezed dramatically higher,” said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney.
Crude oil for May delivery fell as much as 42 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $81.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $81.28 a barrel at 4:07 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose 63 cents to settle at $81.60. April futures expired yesterday.
The dollar climbed to $1.3523 per euro as of 6:53 a.m. in London from $1.3558 in New York yesterday, when it rose to $1.3464, the highest level since March 2.
Gasoline inventories probably declined 1.75 million barrels from 227.3 million the previous week, according to the median of 10 estimates before an Energy Department report.
“The EIA data tends to suggest that oil demand in the U.S. is recovering, particularly gasoline, but it’s still at low levels,” said Moore.
Greece
Oil dropped as much as 2.6 percent yesterday and the U.S. currency rose to the highest level since March 2 after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said investors shouldn’t expect a European Union summit this week to agree on aid for Greece.
Crude oil also came under pressure as China, the world’s fastest-growing energy consumer, said that record oil imports in February boosted its stockpiles by 5.2 percent from January.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has spare production capacity of more than 6 million barrels a day, Germanico Pinto, OPEC’s president and Ecuador’s oil minister, said at a conference yesterday in Geneva. That’s a “comfortable cushion of spare capacity,” he said. The group controls about 40 percent of global crude supply.
Brent crude for May settlement fell as much as 44 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $80.10 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. It was at $80.25 a barrel at 4:05 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract gained 66 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $80.54.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601090&sid=aa7gJkDrjxn0
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