By Rachel Graham Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil declined, erasing earlier gains, as European stock markets fell and before a U.S. government report expected to show crude inventories advanced last week. Equity markets in the U.K., Germany and France and U.S. stock futures dropped. The U.S. Department of Energy’s weekly report on inventories later today may show crude oil stockpiles rose for a fourth week, according to analyst estimates. “The crude market is tracking U.S. futures,” said Nas Nijjar, a crude-oil trader at CMC Markets in London. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market.” Crude oil for April delivery fell as much as 61 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $78.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10:57 a.m. London time. It earlier traded as high as $79.33 a barrel. Stock futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March fell 0.2 percent to 1,095.4 as of 11:12 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 0.1 percent to 10,286. Brent crude oil for April settlement dropped 49 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $76.76 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange as of 10:57 a.m. local time. The U.S. Department of Energy report, released in Washington at 10:30 a.m. local time today, will show crude stockpiles rose by 1.9 million barrels, according to the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. ‘Fundamentals Still Weak’ Crude inventories in the U.S. have risen about 2 percent since the beginning of this year. U.S. gasoline stockpiles are up 5.6 percent this year and may have risen again last week, according to the same survey. “Fundamentals are still weak in terms of demand,” said Kaha Kiknavelidze, a managing partner at London-based Rioni Capital Partners LLP, which specializes in emerging markets. A separate industry report yesterday from the American Petroleum Institute showed the biggest weekly decline in two months. Crude inventories fell 3.14 million barrels last week, the API said. Total SA, Europe’s largest refiner, said it expects to sign an agreement with unions today to end a week of strikes that have hobbled operations at the company’s refineries in France. The strikes were in protest over the planned permanent closure of an idled plant in the northern part of the country. To contact the reporters on this story: Rachel Graham in London rgraham13@bloomberg.net

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