Oil price falls, ends April down 4 pct

[May 01, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The price of oil fell about 1 percent Tuesday on anticipation of another increase in U.S. crude supplies.

Benchmark oil for June delivery fell $1.04 to finish at $93.46 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil finished the month of April with a loss of almost 4 percent, although it did climb back from a low of $86.68 on April 17.

Investors are waiting for fresh information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.

Analysts surveyed by Platts estimate that oil supplies rose by 1.4 million barrels in the week ended Friday, while gasoline supplies dropped by 900,000 barrels.

The report from the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration is released on Wednesday and tends to move the market. Oil has risen or fallen by more than 2 percent following three of the last four inventory reports.

At the pump the average price for a gallon of gas rose by 1 cent to $3.51 a gallon, according to AAA. But AAA did have some good news for drivers. It forecast that gas could drop as low as $3.20 a gallon by the mid-summer. The low point in 2012 was $3.33.

Brent crude, which is used to set prices of oil from the North Sea used by many U.S. refiners, fell $1.44, or 1.4 percent, to end at $102.37 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

• Wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to finish at $2.80 a gallon.

• Heating oil retreated by 3 cents to $2.84 a gallon.

• Natural gas lost 5 cents to $4.34 per 1,000 cubic feet.

[Associated Press]

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok and Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report.

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