Oil Fades as U.S. Raises 'Red Flags' With Slump in Fuel Demand - Bloomberg

Oil Fades as U.S. Raises 'Red Flags' With Slump in Fuel Demand - Bloomberg:

Americans burned through a lot less gasoline and diesel fuel than expected last week, feeding into investor angst over oil demand.

Futures slid 1.5% in New York on Wednesday to the lowest in two weeks after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported inventories of gasoline and distillate fuels grew by a combined 9.25 million barrels last week, well above analysts’ estimates. Crude inventories did decline by more than 3 million barrels, but that was driven in part by temporary production outages related to Hurricane Barry.

“We’re at the heart of summer driving season, so you would expect demand to be at it’s highest right now," said Brian Kessens, a portfolio manager and managing director at Tortoise in Leawood, Kansas. The big build in fuel supplies is “a little bit concerning, especially if we see this continue in future reports."

West Texas Intermediate for August delivery ended the trading session down 84 cents to $56.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for September settlement slipped 69 cents to settle at $63.66 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The global benchmark price traded at a premium of $6.74 to WTI for the same month.