Oil Little Changed Near One-Year High Before Report on Supplies

By Grant Smith

Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed near a one-year high in New York before a report forecast to show that U.S. crude inventories rose.

Oil earlier climbed to $75.96 a barrel, its highest since October 2008. Crude stockpiles probably expanded by 1 million barrels last week, while distillates, a category that includes heating oil, fell by 100,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey before today’s report from the Energy Department.

“On the fundamental side nothing points to higher prices,” said Gerrit Zambo, a trader with Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. “I don’t think demand is going to pick up to the extent that we’ll get any physical shortages. Overall market sentiment is driving oil.

Crude oil for November delivery traded 10 cents higher at $75.28 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 11:21 a.m. London time. Prices have gained 5 percent this week.

Today’s peak of $75.96 a barrel, the highest intraday price since Oct. 20, 2008, was driven by a decline in the dollar and a worldwide advance in equity markets. Yesterday, the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles dropped last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 10,000 yesterday for the first time in a year on better-than-estimated earnings at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp.

Crude Stockpiles

U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell 172,000 barrels to 339.2 million last week, according to the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute. Gasoline inventories declined 2.66 million barrels to 210.4 million, its report showed.

The Energy Department will release its Weekly Petroleum Status Report at 11 a.m. in Washington, a day later than usual because of the Columbus Day holiday Oct. 12.

The Energy Department will post a 100,000-barrel drop in distillate fuel stockpiles in the week to Oct. 9, according to the median estimate from 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Inventories including diesel and heating oil have risen seven weeks to 171.8 million barrels, the highest since January 1983.

Crude oil stockpiles probably rebounded 1 million barrels from the previous week’s decline, based on the survey. Nine analysts predicted an increase while four said there was a drawdown. Gasoline inventories climbed 1.13 million barrels, the survey showed.

Oil-supply totals from the API and Energy Department moved in the same direction 76 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

U.S. Dollar

The dollar was at $1.4916 per euro as of 11:01 a.m. London time after falling as low as $1.4968 per euro, the weakest since August 2008.

“The U.S. dollar knows only one direction and that is helping the oil price,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney. “It may have also got a boost from the API data.”

Brent crude oil for November settlement rose as much as 76 cents, or 1 percent, to $73.86 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract, which expires today, was unchanged at $73.10 a barrel at 11:04 a.m. local time. December futures were at $73.93 a barrel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.netGrant Smith in London at gsmith52@bloomberg.net