WTI Heads for Second Monthly Drop on Stockpile Gain; Brent Falls

WTI Heads for Second Monthly Drop on Stockpile Gain; Brent Falls

West Texas Intermediate headed for a second monthly drop amid speculation that crude inventories at an 83-year high expanded further in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer. Brent slid inLondon.

Futures lost as much as 0.9 percent in New York, declining for the first time in three days. Crude stockpiles probably increased by 2.2 million barrels to 399.9 million last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey before government data today. Supplies rose by 3 million, an industry report showed yesterday. Brent is poised for a rebound in April as sanctions on Russia were strengthened over the Ukraine crisis and gunmen opened fire at Libya’s parliament.

“Anticipation of further inventory growth” is driving West Texas prices, Ric Spooner, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “The possibility of supply disruptions arising from geopolitical uncertainty is up against the reality of sluggish demand and very adequate stockpiles. Traders are trying to steer their way between those two.”

WTI for June delivery fell as much as 93 cents to $100.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $100.46 at 12:40 p.m. Singapore time. The contract advanced 44 cents to $101.28 yesterday. The volume of all futures traded was about 11 percent below the 100-day average. Prices are down 1.1 percent in April, the most in five months.

Brent for June settlement decreased as much as 36 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $108.62 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $8.20 to WTI, compared with $6.18 at the end of March.

Oil Supplies

U.S. crude inventories have climbed to the highest level since May 1931, monthly government datagoing back to 1920 show. Reports before 1976 were based on Bureau of Mines figures, according to the Energy Information Administration, the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Alaskan crude in transit was included from 1981.

Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the largest oil-storage hub in the U.S. and the delivery point for New York futures, increased by 202,000 barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute in Washington said yesterday.

Gasoline supplies probably shrank by 900,000 barrels in the week ended April 25, according to themedian estimate in the Bloomberg survey of nine analysts before today’s EIA report. Distillate inventories, including heating oil and diesel, rose by 500,000 barrels, the survey shows.

Ukraine Crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that further economic sanctions over tension in Ukraine may lead his nation to reconsider participation by U.S. and European Union companies in energy and other industries.

The EU and the U.S. say Russia hasn’t lived up to an accord signed April 17 in Geneva intended to defuse the confrontation between the Ukrainian government and separatists supported by the authorities in Moscow. They’ve warned that penalties will be levied on Russian industries if Putin escalates by sending troops into Ukraine.

In Libya, a vote on the premiership was suspended after unidentified gunmen opened fire at the parliament. About 25 armed protesters attempted to storm the building, firing at windows after they were blocked by guards, according to Mohammed Ali Abdullah, a lawmaker. Libya, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the holder of Africa’s biggest crude reserves