published Jun 20th 2016, 7:13 pm, by Ben Sharples

(Bloomberg) —
Oil halted its advance near $49 a barrel before weekly U.S. government stockpile and production data.

Futures slid as much as 0.6 percent in New York, trimming a 6.8 percent two-day gain. Inventories probably fell by 1.5 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was steady after a fourth day of declines on speculation the U.K. will vote to remain in the European Union.

Oil has advanced more than 85 percent from the lowest level in 12 years as disruptions from Nigeria to Canada and falling output in the U.S. trim a global surplus. The U.K. referendum on European Union membership, known as Brexit, remained too close to call two days before the vote, with separate polls showing leads for both sides.

“Oil has been dominated by general market sentiment over the past week and less by specific oil factors,” Angus Nicholson, a markets analyst in Melbourne at IG Ltd., said by phone. “That will probably continue for the rest of the week and the Brexit vote is on everyone’s mind at the moment. Long term supply concerns with drill rigs coming back to market will probably cap any major rallies toward the $55 to $60 level.”

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery, which expires Tuesday, lost as much as 31 cents to $49.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose $1.39 to close at $49.37 on Monday. Total volume traded was about 57 percent below the 100-day average. The more-active August contract was 6 cents lower at $49.90 a barrel at 8:04 a.m. Hong Kong time.

Brent for August settlement fell as much as 26 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $50.39 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract rose $1.48, or 3 percent, to $50.65 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Monday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of 61 cents to WTI for August.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Hong Kong at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net Aaron Clark, Andrew Hobbs

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