(Bloomberg) -- Oil traded near a two-week high in New York on signs of increased U.S. fuel demand after a government report showed inventories of diesel and heating oil fell in the world's biggest crude-consuming nation.
Futures reached their highest since May 11 today after the Energy Department said yesterday that U.S. distillate supplies declined 2.04 million barrels to 141.1 million last week, the lowest since April 2009. Fuel demand climbed 2.2 percent. Oil may rise to USD 106 a barrel in coming weeks as prices mirror an early-May pullback in 2010 that launched a rally in the rest of that year, Societe Generale SA said.
Crude for July delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was at USD 101.22 a barrel at 9:14 a.m. London time, down 10 cents, after gaining as much as 58 cents to USD 101.90. Brent crude for July settlement was at USD 114.73 a barrel, down 23 cents, on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. The contract yesterday climbed USD 2.40, or 2.1 percent, to USD 114.93, the highest settlement since May 10.