Crude oil reached a one-year high in New York on optimism fuel demand will increase amid improved prospects for an economic recovery in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy consumer. Oil rose for a sixth day as the dollar declined and equities advanced around the world. Prices also climbed after a report from the American Petroleum Institute showed a decline in U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles last week. The Energy Department is expected to report a drop in distillate inventories today. “The big increase after this market broke above $75 yesterday shows it’s possible for prices to accelerate further in the near term,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at brokers Newedge in Tokyo. “The trend for stocks and commodities is higher still.” Crude oil for November delivery climbed as much as 78 cents, or 1 percent, to $75.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the highest intraday price since Oct. 20, 2008. The contract was at $75.93 a barrel at 11:35 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, it added 1.4 percent to $75.18 a barrel, the highest settlement since Oct. 14, 2008. Prices have gained 6 percent this week as equity markets rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke 10,000 yesterday for the first time in a year on better-than-estimated earnings at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Intel Corp. The gauge jumped 144.8 points, or 1.5 percent, to 10,015.86, the highest level since Oct. 3 last year. Asian shares were higher for a third day, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index up 1.5 percent to 121.77 at 12:02 p.m. in Tokyo. Investment Appeal The dollar’s decline also boosted the appeal of commodities as alternative investment. The U.S. currency fell to as low as $1.4958 per euro, the weakest since August 2008, from $1.4925 yesterday in New York. Gold was little changed after touching a record yesterday. “The U.S. dollar knows only one direction and that is helping the oil price,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd. in Sydney. “It may have also got a boost from the API data.” U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell 172,000 barrels to 339.2 million last week, according to the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute. Gasoline inventories declined 2.66 million barrels to 210.4 million, its report showed. The Energy Department will post a 100,000-barrel drop in distillate fuel stockpiles in the week to Oct. 9, according to the median estimate from 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Inventories including diesel and heating oil have risen seven weeks to 171.8 million barrels, the highest since January 1983. Crude Stockpiles Crude oil stockpiles probably rebounded 1 million barrels from the previous week’s decline, based on the survey. Nine analysts predicted an increase while four said there was a drawdown. Gasoline inventories climbed 1.13 million barrels, the survey showed. Oil-supply totals from the API and Energy Department moved in the same direction 76 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The department’s Energy Information Administration will release its Weekly Petroleum Status Report at 11 a.m. in Washington, a day later than usual because of the Columbus Day holiday Oct. 12. “Today’s EIA data may not have a big impact on the crude oil price,” said Hasegawa at Newedge. “We still have to watch the financial markets.” Brent crude oil for November settlement rose as much as 76 cents, or 1 percent, to $73.86 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract, which expires today, was at $73.64 a barrel at 11:24 a.m. in Singapore. December futures were at $74.65 a barrel.

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