Oil Drops Before Inventories are Expected to Rise

West Texas Intermediate traded near $102 a barrel in New York after slipping to a two-week low on estimates that U.S. oil stockpiles rose last week. Brent’s premium to WTI reached a five-week high.

WTI futures dropped as much as 0.5 percent in New York after falling the most since Jan. 2 yesterday. U.S. crude stockpiles probably rose for the 13th time in 14 weeks, a Bloomberg News survey shows before government data today.

WTI for June delivery rose 10 cents to $101.85 a barrel at 9:25 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price ranged from $101.20 to $101.99. The May contract expired yesterday after falling $2.24 to $102.13, the lowest close since April 7.

Brent for June settlement rose 15 cents to $109.42 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude’s premium to WTI was $7.57 a barrel after reaching $8.17, the widest advantage since March 19.

U.S. crude inventories probably expanded by 3 million barrels in the week ended April 18, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed before data from the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Supplies increased by 519,000 barrels, the American Petroleum Institute reported yesterday.

via Bloomberg

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