“West Texas Intermediate traded near its highest intraday level in four days amid signs of a reduction in U.S. crude inventories.
Futures gained as much as 0.7 percent in New York. A government report today will show supplies declined by 800,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that crude stockpiles shrank 7.8 million barrels last week, the most since Dec. 28. The U.S. will today extend waivers from sanctions for nine nations that import Iranian oil, a U.S. official said.
“The big drop in crude inventories in the API report is supporting things,” said Andy Sommer, a senior oil analyst at Axpo Trading AG in Dietikon, Switzerland, who predicts that Brent, the European benchmark, will trade from $100 to $105 a barrel this month. “The market is going to tighten going into the third quarter.”
WTI for July delivery climbed as much as 68 cents to $93.99 a barrel in electronic trading on theNew York Mercantile Exchange and was at $93.80 as of 12:51 p.m. London time. The volume of all futures traded was 28 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for July settlement was 18 cents higher at $103.42 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $9.64 to WTI. The spread was $9.93 yesterday, the widest based on closing prices since April.
