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By Bloomberg

Oil extended its decline from the lowest close in more than six years as an unexpected increase in U.S. crude stockpiles exacerbated a global glut.

Futures slid as much as 0.9 percent in New York after losing 4.3 percent on Wednesday. Inventories expanded by 2.62 million barrels to 456.2 million last week, government data showed, compared with a drop of 820,000 barrels forecast in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Crude may fall to as low as $32 a barrel as the surplus persists, Citigroup Inc. predicted.

Oil has slumped more than 30 percent since this year’s closing peak in June on signs the oversupply that drove prices into a bear market will be prolonged. U.S. crude stockpiles are almost 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average while leading members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are maintaining production.

“The market is in bearish mode,” Michael McCarthy, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “With a surprise increase in inventories and no sign of any disruption to supply, the downward pressure continues.”

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery, which expires Thursday, declined as much as 35 cents to $40.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract slid $1.82 to $40.80 on Wednesday, the lowest close since March 2009. Total volume was 3.1 percent above the 100-day average. The more-active October futures lost 31 cents to $40.96 at 12:27 p.m. Singapore time.

U.S. Supplies

Brent for October settlement dropped as much as 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $46.79 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It decreased $1.65 to $47.16 on Wednesday. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.93 to WTI for the same month.

Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures and the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, rose by 326,000 barrels to 57.4 million through Aug. 14, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. That’s the first gain in four weeks.

The U.S. glut may worsen as a heavy slate of refinery maintenance this fall threatens to make inventory builds at Cushing a common occurrence. The outages will follow trouble at BP Plc’s Whiting plant in Indiana that meant about 1.5 million barrels of oil didn’t get consumed last week.

WTI could slump to lows last seen during the global financial crisis, according to Citigroup analysts including Seth Kleinman. Futures at $32.40 a barrel, a low reached in December 2008, “is a conceivable reality,” they said in a report Wednesday.