West
Texas Intermediate fell for a third day, extending the biggest decline in two
months, after government data showed distillate-fuel and crude stockpiles
increased in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer.
Futures
dropped as much as 0.6 percent in New York, extending a 1.8 percent loss
yesterday. Distillate inventories, including heating oil and diesel, gained
last week, the Energy Information Administration reported. They were forecast
to shrink in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. Crude stockpiles climbed for
a seventh week while supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, slid to the lowest level
since February 2012 with the opening of a new pipeline.
WTI
for April delivery declined as much as 59 cents to $100.86 a barrel in
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $100.97 at
12:05 p.m. Sydney time. The contract dropped $1.88 to $101.45 yesterday, the
lowest settlement since Feb. 14. The volume of all futures traded was about 42
percent below the 100-day average.
Brent
for April settlement decreased 20 cents to $107.56 a barrel on the London-based
ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of
$6.59 to WTI. The spread ended yesterday’s session at $6.31, widening for the
first time in seven days.
(Source: Bloomberg)
