Crude oil increased to a one-month high as the U.S. Energy Department reported supplies declined to a 20-month low.
Inventories dropped 4.73 million barrels to 332.9 million last week, the lowest level since February 2010, the report showed. Supplies were forecast to climb 2 million barrels, according to the median of 13 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Gasoline and distillate fuel stockpiles also decreased in the week ended Oct. 14.
“The big draws are very bullish,” said Todd Horwitz, chief strategist at Adam Mesh Trading Group in New York. “If we can break through resistance at $90, there’s a strong probability that we’re going to climb to $100.”
Crude oil for November delivery rose 39 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $88.73 a barrel at 11:09 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract touched $89.51, the highest intraday price since Sept. 16. Futures are down 2.9 percent this year.
Futures also rose after builders began work on more U.S. homes than forecast in September on rising demand for apartments and condominiums as more Americans become renters.
Housing starts climbed 15 percent to 658,000 houses at an annual rate, the most since April 2010, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey called for a 590,000 pace. Beginning construction of multifamily dwellings surged to the highest since October 2008.
