Bloomberg Crude Oil Falls to Six-Week Low on Forecast of Fuel Supply Gain

July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell to a six-week low on speculation that a government report will show U.S. fuel supplies gained as the recession cut demand.

Gasoline inventories rose 900,000 barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg News survey conducted before tomorrow’s Energy Department report. Oil in New York has dropped 14 percent from an eight-month high of $73.38 reached on June 30 as lower U.S. payrolls raised concern that the economy of the world’s biggest energy-consuming country will be slow to recover.

“Market sentiment has changed 180 degrees in one week,” said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover Inc., an energy consulting company in New Canaan, Connecticut. “Any price drop was seen as a time to buy and send the market higher. That all changed after last week’s employment report.”

Crude oil for August delivery fell $1.12, or 1.7 percent, to $62.93 a barrel at 2:47 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since May 26. Prices are up 41 percent this year.

Prices extended losses in electronic trading after the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. gasoline supplies rose 767,000 barrels to 212.4 million and stockpiles of distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, climbed 3.42 million barrels to 158 million, the highest since 1985.

Futures were down $1.73, or 2.7 percent, at $62.32 a barrel at 4:53 p.m. more...