Bloomberg: WTI Oil Drops a Second Day as Supplies Seen Rising By Mark Shenk - Mar 11, 2014 West Texas Intermediate crude fell a second day on speculation that a government report will show U.S. supplies rose an eighth week. Brent was stable in London. Futures slid as much as 0.6 percent in New York. Crude stockpiles are forecast to have gained 2 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report tomorrow. U.S. output climbed to the highest level since 1988 in January. Brent held near $108 a barrel as the European Union told Russia it must switch course in Crimea by next week or risk more sanctions. “The fundamentals for WTI are weak,” said Gene McGillian an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. “Crude production in the U.S. is near multidecade highs, and as a result, storage levels are increasing,” WTI for April delivery dropped 45 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $100.67 a barrel at 9:43 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures are up 2.3 percent this year. The volume of all futures traded was 7.9 percent above the 100-day average. Brent for April settlement rose 5 cents to $108.13 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 14 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark traded at a $7.46 premium to WTI. The spread settled at $6.96 yesterday. U.S. Supplies U.S. crude inventories have expanded 3.9 percent in the past seven weekly reports from the EIA to 363.8 million, the highest level in two months. The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release separate supply data at 4:30 p.m. today in Washington. The industry group collects information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the EIA. Brent crude has increased on concern that escalating tension between Ukraine and Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter, would disrupt shipments. Brent, which is used to price more than half of the world’s crude and, unlike WTI, can be exported, is often more sensitive to changes in the global supply-and-demand balance. To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dan Stets at [email protected] Margot Habiby, Charlotte Porter ®2014 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 14:52:33 +0000