WTI Trades Near 14-Month High as Supply Drops Amid Egypt Unrest

West Texas Intermediate crude traded near the highest price in 14 months as U.S. stockpiles fell the most this year and the ouster of Egypt’s president fanned concern unrest will disrupt Middle East oil supply.

Futures were little changed in New York after advancing for a third day yesterday. U.S. crude inventories declined by 10.3 million barrels last week, a government report showed. They were projected to drop by 2.25 million, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Egypt’s army forced Mohamed Mursi from power a year after his election, boosting speculation that the political turmoil may interrupt flows along the Suez Canal or Suez-Med pipeline running through the country.

WTI for August delivery was at $101.32 a barrel, up 8 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:43 a.m. Sydney time. The volume of all futures traded was 68 percent below the 100-day average. The contract rose $1.64, or 1.7 percent, to $101.24 yesterday, the highest settlement since May, 2012.

Brent for August settlement gained $1.76, or 1.7 percent, to $105.76 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange yesterday. The European benchmark grade ended the session at a premium of $4.52 to WTI futures. It closed at $4.40 on July 2, the narrowest spread since Jan. 4, 2011.

U.S. gasoline supplies declined by 1.7 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. They were forecast to increase by 700,000 barrels, according to the median estimate of 11 analysts in the Bloomberg survey.

(Sumber: Bloomberg)