Oil rose for a third day in New York after an industry report showed a decline in fuel and crude stockpiles in the U.S., the biggest energy-consuming nation. Crude oil climbed above $71 a barrel after the American Petroleum Institute said distillate fuel inventories fell 2.91 million barrels last week while crude supplies dropped by 254,000 barrels. The Energy Information Administration will report government supply figures today. MasterCard Inc. reported yesterday that U.S. gasoline consumption climbed to the highest in six weeks. “If the API numbers are replicated in the EIA data, that would be quite supportive to the oil price,” David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, said by telephone. “The fragility of the U.S. dollar is also supportive to the oil price.” Crude oil for November delivery rose as much as 64 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $71.52 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $71.50 at 12:05 p.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract gained 47 cents to settle at $70.88. Prices have climbed 60 percent this year. The dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of six major currencies, has dropped to 76.42 today from 78.01 a month ago, prompting investors to buy commodities as an inflation hedge. Crude Stockpiles U.S. crude oil inventories reported by the Energy Information Administration under the Energy Department probably rose last week as refineries performed seasonal maintenance, a Bloomberg News survey showed. Stockpiles increased 2 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 2 from 338.4 million the week before, according to the median of estimates from 14 analysts. Supplies of crude, gasoline and distillate fuel, a category that includes heating oil and diesel, were above the five-year average in the week ended Sept. 25, the department said on Sept. 30. The department is scheduled to release its Weekly Petroleum Status Report at 10:30 a.m. today in Washington. Oil-supply totals from the API and DOE moved in the same direction 76 percent of the time over the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The API collects stockpile information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines. The government requires that reports be filed with the Energy Department for its weekly survey. Demand Increase The EIA increased its forecast for global oil consumption in the fourth quarter and next year, citing “sustained economic growth” in China and a recovery in other Asian countries. Global crude demand may reach 84.7 million barrels a day in the fourth quarter, and climb to 84.77 million barrels a day in 2010, the EIA said yesterday in its Short-Term Energy Outlook. U.S. gasoline consumption jumped as pump prices fell below $2.50 and less rain fell in the Midwest and Gulf Coast, according to a MasterCard Inc. report. Motorists bought an average 9.23 million barrels of gasoline a day in the week ended Oct. 2, MasterCard, the second- biggest credit-card company, said in its report yesterday. That’s 0.6 percent more than the prior week and the most since the week ended Aug. 21. Brent crude oil for November settlement rose as much as 71 cents, or 1 percent, to $69.27 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It was at $69.26 at 12:03 p.m. Singapore time. The contract gained 52 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at $68.56 a barrel yesterday. To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net; Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at Christian.s@bloomberg.net

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