VINACHEM

Oil in New York traded near thelowest close since July after U.S. inventories rose more thanforecast and fuel demand dropped.

Prices were little changed after five days of losses, thelongest decline in five months. The Energy Department said crude stockpiles jumped 5.9 million barrels last week, more than threetimes the median 1.8 million gain forecast by analysts in aBloomberg News survey. Gasoline demand fell to a seven-month low,and the Federal Reserve said unemployment remains elevated.

“Inventory data overnight was a lot more bearish thanexpected,” said Michael McCathy, a chief market strategist atCMC Markets in Sydney. The Fed’s comments “added to a generalrisk-off tone to the markets overnight,” he said.

Crude for December delivery was at $86.05 a barrel inelectronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 32cents, at 1:30 p.m. Singapore time. The contract settled at$85.73 yesterday, the lowest since July 10. Prices are down 13percent this year.

Brent oil for December settlement on the London-based ICEFutures Europe exchange was at $108.12 a barrel, up 27 cents.The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $22.05 to NewYork-traded West Texas Intermediate grade, from $22.12 yesterday.

U.S. crude stockpiles increased to 375.1 million barrels inthe week ended Oct. 19, the highest for this time of year sincethe government started reporting inventories in 1982. Suppliesat Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the WTI contract,rose by 40,000 barrels to 44.1 million, 40 percent more than ayear ago.

Crude Output

Production in the U.S. climbed for a seventh week to 6.61million barrels a day, a 17-year high. Imports gained for afourth week, up 5.7 percent at 8.82 million barrels a day.Refinery utilization averaged 87.2 percent of capacity, from87.4 percent.

U.S. gasoline stockpiles rose 1.44 million barrels to 198.6million last week, according to the Energy Department. Supplieswere forecast to increase by 500,000 barrels. Distillate fuels,which include heating oil and diesel, slid 646,000 barrels to118 million. They were expected to drop 1.2 million.

Gasoline consumption declined 2.7 percent to 8.49 millionbarrels a day, the slowest rate since March 16. The four-week average fell to 8.61 million, a six-month low.

Gasoline for November delivery in New York decreased for a10th day yesterday, capping the longest losing streak sincefutures began trading in May 1986. The contract was 0.3 percenthigher at $2.61 a gallon today.

Keystone Pipeline

TransCanada Corp. took pressure restrictions off its590,000 barrel-a-day Keystone oil pipeline, according to JamesMillar, a company spokesman. The pipe runs 2,150 miles (3,459kilometers) from Hardisty, Alberta, to Wood River and Patoka, Illinois, and to the storage hub at Cushing. It was shut Oct. 17for repairs.

The Fed said yesterday it would maintain $40 billion inmonthly purchases of mortgage-backed securities aimed atspeeding economic growth.

“Strains in global financial markets continue to posesignificant downside risks,” the Federal Open Market Committeesaid at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington. Thecentral bank repeated that interest rates are likely to staynear zero “at least through mid-2015.”

Hurricane Sandy, which closed businesses and airports in Jamaica as it moved north in the Caribbean, was due to approachthe U.S. East Coast next week, avoiding the Gulf of Mexico. TheGulf is home to 23 percent of U.S. oil production, 7 percent ofnatural-gas output and 44 percent of refining capacity,according to the Energy Department.

Oil’s decline in New York is slowing as a technicalindicator shows futures have fallen too far for further lossesto be sustainable, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The14-day relative strength index yesterday dropped to 31.6, thelowest since June 28. Crude rebounded from a nine-month low inJune when the RSI slid below 30, signaling the market wasoversold. Today’s reading is 32.8.