WTI Swings as Crude Stockpiles at Cushing Decline; Brent Steady

                     West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses after U.S. government data showed crude supplies at the delivery point for New Yorkcontracts shrank to the lowest level since 2008. Brent was steady in London.

Futures were little changed in New York after rising 0.7 percent yesterday. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, dropped by 1.45 million barrels to 18.8 million, the least since November 2008, according to an Energy Information Administration report. A measure of manufacturing in China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, climbed to an 18-month high in July.

“The long-run story has not changed, global supply still looks healthy,” Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. inSingapore, said by phone today. “The global growth tailwinds are expected to continue, and that does give oil investors a reason to see higher prices in the short term.”

WTI for September delivery was at $102.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 26 cents, at 3:22 p.m. Singapore time. The contract increased 73 cents to $103.12 yesterday. The volume of all futures traded was 20 percent above the 100-day average. Prices have advanced 4.5 percent this year.

Brent for September settlement was 22 cents lower at $107.81 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.96 to WTI, compared with $4.91 yesterday.

Fuel Supplies

U.S. crude inventories nationwide fell by almost 4 million barrels to 371.1 million in the week ended July 18, said the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Supplies were down for a fourth week, the longest run of declines since January. They were forecast to decrease by 2.9 million, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of nine analysts.

Gasoline stockpiles expanded by 3.38 million barrels, compared with a projected gain of 1 million. The peak U.S. driving season typically starts on Memorial Day, which came on May 26 this year, and runs through Labor Day on Sept. 1.

Distillate inventories, including heating oil and diesel, rose by 1.64 million barrels last week, the EIA report shows. An increase of 2 million was projected in the survey.

In China, a preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was at 52, topping the median prediction of 51 in a separate Bloomberg survey and June’s final level of 50.7. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

The Asian country will account for about 11 percent of global oil demand this year, compared with 21 percent for the U.S., according to theInternational Energy Agency in Paris. - Bloomberg