“West Texas Intermediate crude fell before data likely to show a decline in U.S. gasoline stockpiles as OPEC delegates in Vienna indicated the group will leave its output target unchanged at this week’s meeting.
Futures dropped as much as 1 percent in New York after gaining for the first time in a week yesterday as U.S. consumer confidence rose to the highest in five years. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will keep its production limit at 30 million barrels a day at a May 31 meeting in Vienna, said two delegates who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t yet final. An Energy Information Administration report tomorrow may show gasoline supplies dropped 650,000 barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
“OPEC will be a non-event, as the key producers seem quite happy with the status quo,” saidCarsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “In the inventory report, gasoline stock change will be most important to watch,” with the U.S. entering the peak summer driving season, he said.
WTI for July delivery was at $94.14 a barrel, down 87 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:56 p.m. London time. The volume of all futures traded was 3 percent above the 100-day average. The contract climbed 86 cents to $95.01 yesterday. Prices are up 0.7 percent this month after losing 3.9 percent in April.
