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By Bloomberg

Oil resumed its decline amid signs the U.S. crude supply glut that drove prices lower will persist.

Futures decreased as much as 1.6 percent in New York after rising Tuesday as the dollar fell, which bolstered the appeal of commodities priced in the U.S. currency. Inventories increased by 2.3 million barrels last week, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to have reported. A drop of 2.2 million barrels is forecast in a Bloomberg survey before the release of Energy Information Administration data Wednesday.

Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered on signs the global surplus will be prolonged as Iran seeks to restore output after its nuclear accord. While a decline in U.S. stockpiles is predicted, supplies are set to remain almost 100 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year.

“The glut is still a focus,” Jonathan Barratt, the chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney, said by phone. “Prices are stuck in a range but we’ll see what happens with the inventory data, that will be a key.”

WTI for September delivery fell as much as 82 cents to $50.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $50.14 at 1:31 p.m. Sydney time. The August contract expired Tuesday after rising 21 cents to $50.36. The volume of all futures traded was about 2 percent above the 100- day average. Front-month prices are down 5.9 percent this year.

U.S. Supplies

Brent for September settlement lost as much as 55 cents, or 1 percent, to $56.49 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It rose 39 cents to $57.04 Tuesday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $6.39 to WTI.

Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures and the biggest oil-storage hub in the U.S., gained by 885,000 barrels through July 17, the Washington-based API said, according to ForexLive.

Refinery utilization in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, probably remained unchanged at 95.3 percent last week, according to the Bloomberg survey. Plants used 16.8 million barrels a day of crude through July 10, the most in data since 1989, according to the EIA.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, increased oil stockpiles to meet a surge in summer demand, according to a person with direct knowledge. Supplies are for operational not strategic purposes, the person said, asking not to be identified because information is private.