Oil falls to near $93 a barrel ahead of weekly report on US crude stockpiles

BANGKOK – Oil wallowed near $93 a barrel Wednesday as energy markets waited for a U.S. report on crude supplies.

The benchmark U.S. crude futures contract for January delivery was down 22 cents at $93.46 a barrel at midafternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 41 cents to $93.68 on Tuesday.

Oil is down from about $110 in October due to a muted outlook for demand, high supplies and reduced tensions in the oil rich Middle East.

Data for the week ending Nov. 22 is expected to show a decline of 1.5 million barrels in U.S. crude oil stocks and an increase of 1 million barrels in gasoline stocks, according to a survey of analysts by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Crude oil supplies rose by 400,000 barrels for the week ended Nov. 15, the ninth straight weekly increase.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, was up 6 cents at $110.94 a barrel on the ICE exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline rose 0.5 cent to $2.687 a gallon.

— Heating oil shed 0.3 cent to $3.04 a gallon.

— Natural gas fell 0.4 cent to $3.86 per 1,000 cubic feet.