Oil Drops, Extending Quarterly Loss, as U.S. Demand Falters
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC, discusses the outlook for oil prices. Schenker speaks on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness with Margaret Brennan." (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil dropped, extending its first quarterly loss in a year, amid signs of faltering fuel demand in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer.
Futures in New York dropped as much as 0.7 percent, halting the biggest two-day rally in seven weeks. The U.S. Energy Department said yesterday gasoline demand dropped for a second week in the seven days to June 24. U.S. pump prices are up 29 percent from a year earlier.
“The situation with very high gasoline prices isn’t sustainable,” Christophe Barret, a London-based oil analyst at Credit Agricole SA, said by phone. “The Energy Department figures weren’t that supportive.”
Crude for August delivery fell as much as 62 cents to $94.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $94.57 as of 9:57 a.m. London time. The contract climbed yesterday $1.88 to $94.77, completing a two-day gain of 4.6 percent, the most since May 10. Futures are down 11 percent this quarter.
Brent oil for August settlement was down $1.10 a barrel at $111.30. The European benchmark, down 5.2 percent in the second quarter, traded at a premium of $16.83 to New York-traded West Texas Intermediate. The spread reached a record $22.29 a barrel on June 15.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Graham in London rgraham13@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net
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