Oil falls to near $93 on US stockpile increase
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Oil fell to near $93 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a rise in oil supplies offset U.S. retail sales data showing Americans spending more.
Benchmark oil for September delivery was down 16 cents at $93.27 per barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 70 cents to end at $93.43 a barrel in New York on Tuesday.
Americans increased their retail spending in July by the most in five months, a gain of 0.8 percent over June, government data showed Tuesday. The increase came after three straight monthly declines.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Traders were remaining cautious, however, after the American Petroleum Institute said crude stockpiles in the U.S. rose some 2.8 million barrels last week. Expectations were for a drop of 1.7 million, according to Natalie Rampono, a commodities analyst at ANZ Banking Group in Melbourne.
""It is a negative signal for demand," she said.
Brent crude was down 1 cent at $112.14 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. It has gained more than $8 per barrel this month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In other futures trading on the Nymex, gasoline fell marginally to $3.01 a gallon. Heating oil fell 0.5 cents to $3.029 a gallon. Natural gas fell 1.8 cents to $2.82 per 1,000 cubic feet.