Oil falls but stays above $75 in Asia as investors eye US crude supplies

Oil falls on report showing rise in US supplies

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Oil prices fell Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies swelled last week, indicating demand for fuel may be weakening.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 46 cents at $75.31 a barrel at late afternoon Kuala Lumpur time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 53 cents to settle at $75.77 on Tuesday, rebounding from five straight days of losses.

The gains ran out of steam after the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose sharply by 5.87 million barrels last week, against market expectations for a drop in supplies.

Inventories of gasoline and distillates also rose, the API said.

The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday.

Cameron Hanover said in a report that the API data was unexpected and surprising.

“The API numbers were bearish, showing inventory builds in both refined products and in crude oil stocks, and showing weaker demand,” it said. “The big question for Wednesday is whether the DOE report will in any way mirror the API numbers.”

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil fell 1.2 cents to $2.014 a gallon and gasoline fell 2.2 cents to $1.931. Natural gas eased 0.2 cent to $4.265 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent crude was down 51 cents at $76.42 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.