WTI Drops Below $100 as U.S. Fuel Supplies Rise; Brent Declines

                           West Texas Intermediate dropped for a fourth day and slipped below $100 as gasoline stockpiles rose and demand declined in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil user. Brent decreased in London.

Futures fell as much as 1.1 percent in New York. Gasoline supplies expanded by 365,000 barrels last week to 218.2 million, the highest level in four months, the Energy Information Administration said yesterday. Average consumption shrank 0.5 percent over the past four weeks to thelowest since May, even as the country’s peak driving season started with the Memorial Day holiday on May 26.

“This should be a period of peak demand,” said Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney. “The price action is telling us the world does not have an issue with the supply of crude. Oil at $100 is a big level, and I don’t think it will give it up so quickly.”

WTI for September delivery slid as much as $1.11 to $99.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $99.63 at 1:58 p.m. Singapore time. The contract fell 0.7 percent to $100.27 yesterday, the lowest close since July 15. The volume of all futures traded was about 7 percent above the 100-day average. Prices are down 5.5 percent in July, the most in nine months.

Brent for September settlement fell as much as 63 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $105.88 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $6.64 to WTI, from $6.24 yesterday.

Crude Stockpiles

WTI slid last week as gasoline stockpiles rose the most in six months to the highest level since March, fueling speculation of slowing demand. Consumption of the fuel during the past four weeks shrank to an average 8.95 million barrels a day, according to the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

Crude inventories dropped 3.7 million barrels to 367.4 million in the week ended July 25, said the EIA. Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, decreased by 924,000 barrels to 17.9 million, the lowest since October 2008.

Stockpiles of distillates, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, expanded by 789,000 barrels to 126.7 million, the highest level since September 2013.