Oil Halts Advance Near $48 on Signs U.S. Fuel Stockpiles Climbed

(Bloomberg) 

Oil halted gains near $48 a barrel as U.S. industry data showed gasoline stockpiles rose, offsetting a further decline in crude inventories.

Futures lost 0.3 percent in New York after rebounding Tuesday from the biggest drop in a week. Motor fuel stockpiles gained by 1.4 million barrels last week, while crude inventories fell by 3.6 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. Energy Information Administration data Wednesday is forecast to show both gasoline and crude stockpiles decreased.

Oil in New York has fluctuated below $50 a barrel this month amid concerns a global glut is draining slower than expected despite supply cuts by some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies. A Libyan security force has reopened a key crude pipeline, a step toward allowing the nation’s largest oil field to resume production.

“A build in products is likely bearish for prices during the driving season,” said Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. The end of the driving season starting late this month will “likely conclude in a more forceful downward pressure” on prices.

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery was at $47.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 16 cents, at 10:04 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 24 percent below the 100-day average. The September contract expired Tuesday after climbing 27 cents to $47.64.

Brent for October settlement lost 19 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $51.68 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices gained 21 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $51.87 on Tuesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.01 to WTI.

U.S. crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, dropped by 462,000 barrels last week, said the API, according to people familiar with the data. Nationwide crude inventories probably decreased by 3.48 million barrels last week, while gasoline supplies slid 1.25 million, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Oil-market news:

Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guard opened a valve that had been shut on the pipeline linking the Sharara field to Zawiya port, according to Wessam Al-Messmari, an office manager for the group. The ministerial committee that reviews the OPEC-led supply cuts is said to have a proposal to meet on Sept. 22 in Vienna, according to delegates familiar with the matter.