Oil fell in New York on speculation demand will falter after the biggest monthly gain in more than two years and a surge in the dollar. Brent’s premium to U.S. crude was near its lowest in almost four months.
Futures fell as much as 1.2 percent after Japan took steps for the third time this year to weaken the yen against the dollar, making commodities priced using the U.S. currency less attractive to investors. Crude prices at $80 to $100 are “reasonable,” the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister said in Singapore today. Oil is up 17 percent in October, the biggest monthly increase since May 2009.
“Oil is down with other commodities as the dollar strengthens,” said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. who correctly predicted prices would recover from last month’s slump. “But I think it will go up again, as we head into the winter with low inventories. If it’s especially cold, Brent may climb as high as $120.”
Crude for December delivery dropped as much as $1.07 to $92.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $92.69 at 11 a.m. London time.
