Oil Rises More Than $2 on Weaker Dollar, Fuel Supply Forecast Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose more than $2 a barrel as a weakening dollar prompted investors to purchase commodities as an inflation hedge. Oil and gold rebounded as the dollar fell against the euro from its strongest since Feb. 20. Oil also gained on forecasts a government report tomorrow will show a fourth weekly decline in U.S. gasoline stockpiles. ``At this stage the gyrations of the dollar are the primary movers of the oil market,'' said Nauman Barakat, senior vice president of global energy futures at Macquarie Futures USA Inc. in New York. ``The focus will remain on the value of the dollar against the euro.'' Crude oil for September delivery rose $2.37, or 2.1 percent, to $115.224 a barrel at 12:38 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched a 15-week low of $111.34 a barrel on Aug. 15. Prices are up 60 percent from a year ago. The dollar was down 0.5 percent at $1.4768 per euro from $1.4694 yesterday. It earlier touched $1.4631, the strongest since Feb. 20. U.S. supplies of gasoline probably fell 3 million barrels last week from 202.8 million barrels the previous week, according to the median of 12 responses in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. The Energy Department is scheduled to release the report at 10:35 a.m. in Washington. ``Tomorrow's report is almost sure-fire to be bullish,'' said Peter Beutel, president of energy consultant Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut. ``Refineries are nowhere near producing enough fuel to meet our needs.'' Oil Supplies Inventories of crude oil probably rose 1 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 15, the survey showed. Stockpiles of distillate fuel, including heating oil and diesel, probably rose 850,000 barrels. ``Crude oil stocks should be up or down by 1 million barrels while gasoline stocks fall and distillates rise,'' said Gene McGillian, an analyst at TFS Energy LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. ``If distillates drop or gasoline has another whopping decline, there will be a big reaction.'' Brent crude oil for October settlement rose $2.22, or 2 percent, to $114.16 a barrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.
