Oil Falls for First Time in Three Days on U.S. Economy Concerns

June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil declined for the first time in three days in New York after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy was subdued in many parts of the country, signaling fuel demand growth may slow.

Oil pared some of yesterday’s 3.3 percent gain after U.S. equities fell following a slide in energy and financial shares and the release of the Fed’s Beige Book regional survey. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the recovery isn’t as strong as he prefers and faces risks from Europe’s debt crisis. An Energy Department report showed higher gasoline supplies than forecast.

“There are still lingering macro concerns,” said Toby Hassall, a commodity analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. “If you look at market sentiment relative to where it was a few months ago, the global outlook certainly isn’t as bright as it was and that feeds through to crude demand.”

Crude oil for July delivery dropped as much as 66 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $73.72 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $73.93 at 9:12 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract rose $2.39, the biggest advance since May 27, to settle at $74.38. Futures have fallen 6.8 percent this year.

The Beige Book report “was not taken positively across any of the markets,” said Mike Sander, an investment adviser at Sander Capital Advisors in Seattle.

Gasoline supplies in the U.S. fell 8,000 barrels to 218.9 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department. A decline of 500,000 barrels was forecast by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News before the report.

Gasoline Demand

Motor gasoline demand declined 1 percent to 9.1 million barrels a day from a year earlier in the four weeks ended June 4, according to the Energy Department.

Inventories of crude oil fell 1.83 million barrels to 361.4 million in the week ended June 4, the Energy Department reported, the lowest level since April. Supplies were forecast to decline by 900,000 barrels, based on the median estimate of 17 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.

“We did see gasoline demand numbers fairly week,” CWA’s Hassall said. “In absolute terms inventories are still high, it’s not unexpected to see a decline in U.S. crude stocks.”

The dollar fell amid speculation the European Central Bank may act to stabilize the region’s debt markets.

Oil Demand

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries yesterday left its forecast for world oil demand in 2010 at 85.37 million barrels a day, unchanged from the May estimate. The Energy Department cut its outlook for 2010 global oil consumption this week to 85.51 million barrels a day from 85.55 million last month. The Paris-based International Energy Agency will publish its outlook today.

OPEC said in its monthly report yesterday it will need to pump less crude than previously thought this year as output from non-OPEC countries increases more than forecast.

The group, which produces about 40 percent of the world’s oil, estimated members will need to pump 28.77 million barrels of oil a day to satisfy demand for the year, according to its monthly oil report. That’s about 70,000 less than last month’s projection.

The United Nations Security Council voted yesterday to impose new sanctions on Iran, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, that restrict financial transactions, tighten an arms embargo and authorize the seizure of cargo linked to its nuclear or missile programs.

Brent crude for July delivery dropped as much as 42 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $73.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, and was at $73.88 at 8:55 a.m. Singapore time. Yesterday, the contract gained $1.97, or 2.7 percent, to settle at $74.27.