Oil falls amid first signs of expanding US crude stockpiles

Bloomberg

Oil dropped as US crude inventories rose for the first time in more than a month.
Futures dipped as much as 1 percent on Wednesday in New York. Nationwide, crude stockpiles expanded by 1.85 million barrels last week, the first increase since early August, the Energy Information Administration said.
Refiners are buying less crude as post-summer maintenance work ramps up. The government’s weekly assessment wasn’t entirely bearish, however: overseas demand for American oil jumped to a two-month high.
Refining rates in the world’s biggest economy underwent “a pretty big change,” said Matt Sallee, who helps manage $16 billion at Tortoise in Leawood, Kansas. Still, “we are seeing exports continue to increase, so that is more of a permanent trend.”
US efforts to isolate Iran, OPEC’s No. 3 producer, are beginning to tighten worldwide crude markets. South Korea’s biggest refiner, SK Innovation Co., is increasing purchases of American crude after shunning Iranian cargoes. India also is cutting crude imports from the Islamic Republic to zero.
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery declined 50 cents to $71.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 25 percent below the 100-day average.
Brent for November delivery slid 46 cents to $81.41 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark traded at a $9.63 premium to WTI.
The EIA reported refinery utilisation rates last week dropped to the lowest since May. At the key pipeline hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, crude inventories expanded for the first time in three weeks.