High Inventories
"A lot of producing countries like OPEC are saying every day that a lot of crude oil is available, there is no shortage," said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivative sales manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo. "WTI is very weak because of high inventories."
An Energy Department report tomorrow may show that U.S. crude inventories climbed by 2.5 million barrels last week from 340.6 million, according to the median of 11 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will report its own data today.
Brent's premium over WTI futures was at $9.20 a barrel, after surging to $11.75 a barrel on Jan. 27. The spread may eventually stabilize at $8 to $10 a barrel, Hasegawa said.
Saudi Arabia's Super Light crude sold to Asia is the first Middle East oil to climb above $100 a barrel in two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Three of the 12 crudes making up the basket price of oil produced by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have also breached the three-digit mark in the past week. Super Light to customers in Asia rose to $102.04 a barrel today, the highest since Sep. 22, 2008, Bloomberg data show.