“Brent futures fell for a third session as crude inventories in the U.S. increased. Iraq resumed oil exports via Turkey today after a halt caused by sabotage to a pipeline.
Brent dropped as much as 0.8 percent. Total U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 230,000 barrels, according to the Energy Department. Iraq’s state-run North Oil Co. repaired the pipeline to Turkey following a bombing attack yesterday in the city of Mosul. The weekly U.S. jobless claims will be announced at 8:30 a.m. Washington time and are expected to show an increase to 335,000, according to a Bloomberg survey.
“The market looks to be taking stock, awaiting the next economic data,” said Michael Hewson, a market analyst at CMC Markets Plc in London who expects WTI to peak at $98 this year. “It’s a demand story at the moment as inventories keep rising. We need positive economic news to stop the fall and that could come with the weekly jobless claims.”
Brent for June settlement fell as much as 78 cents to $103.56 a barrel, and was at $103.73 as of 12:39 p.m. London time on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
West Texas Intermediate for June delivery was down 71 cents at $95.91 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front-month European benchmark was at a premium of $7.82 to WTI. It closed at $7.72 yesterday, the narrowest gap since January 2011.
