Oil falls to near $106 after US crude supply jump

SINGAPORE—Oil prices fell to near $106 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed a larger-than-expected jump in US crude supplies, suggesting demand remains weak.

Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 84 cents to $106.49 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was up 30 cents to settle at $107.33 per barrel in New York on Tuesday.

Brent crude for May delivery was down 93 cents at $124.61 per barrel in London.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 3.6 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 2.8 million barrels.

Inventories of gasoline increased 1.3 million barrels last week while distillates tumbled 1.4 million barrels, the API said.

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

Crude has jumped from $75 in October as signs of an improving US economy bolstered investor confidence. However, crude demand hasn’t picked up yet and economists expect consumption could remain tepid with US gasoline prices nearing $4 a gallon.

Some analysts forecast weaker economic growth and demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy, will pull oil prices lower. Capital Economics expects Brent crude to fall to below $100 by the end of the year.

“Perhaps the biggest concerns are the signs of weakness in China,” Capital Economics said in a report. “The years of sustained double-digit growth in China’s economy are now ancient history and the risks over the next several years, both to growth and commodity demand, lie overwhelmingly on the downside.”

In other energy trading, heating oil was down 1.8 cents at $3.22 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 3.6 cents at $3.35 per gallon. Natural gas slid 3.6 cents at $2.17 per 1,000 cubic feet.