Rise in inventories sends oil price falling

U.S. crude oil stockpiles climbed 2.81 million barrels to 314.7 million last week, the first gain in four weeks, the Energy Department said. A 750,000 barrel decline was expected, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Imports rose to the highest level since the week that ended Aug. 17.

"The jump in imports was enough for refiners to increase runs and still leave additional barrels to build stocks," said Tim Evans, an analyst with Citigroup Global Markets in New York. "The rise in imports is evidence that the declines we saw in recent weeks were a function of inventory management, not a shortage of oil."

Crude oil for December delivery closed down 66 cents at $93.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures climbed to $98.62 on Nov. 7, the highest intraday price since trading began in 1983. Prices are up 57 percent from a year ago.

Brent crude oil for December settlement fell $1.14 to $90.22 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent reached $95.19 a barrel on Nov. 7, the highest point since trading began in 1988.

Imports of crude oil rose 8.6 percent to 10.5 million barrels in the week that ended Nov. 9, the report showed.

"The gain shouldn't have been a surprise because there was no way that imports were going to stay so low," said Brad Samples, commodity analyst for Summit Energy Services in Kentucky. "The premium of WTI over Brent and some West African grades is a strong incentive to send barrels to the U.S. This should continue to boost inventories."

Total implied fuel demand in the United States averaged 20.6 million barrels a day in the four weeks that ended Nov. 9, down 0.7 percent from a year earlier, the Energy Department report showed. The Energy Department measures shipments from refineries, pipelines and terminals to calculate fuel demand.

"Even if demand here were to fall 5 percent, we would still see global growth because of what's happening in India and China," said Adam Hewison, president of INO.com, a Web site that provides technical analysis and financial news.

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