Oil Futures Fall on Weaker Economic Outlook

NEW YORK--Oil futures fell Friday as disappointing U.S. economic data spurred concern that demand in the No. 1 oil-consuming nation wouldn't be strong enough to reduce high supplies.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery settled down 87 cents, or 0.8%, at $102.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices fell 1.6% for the week, but rose 3% for the month.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell 56 cents, or 0.5%, to $109.41 a barrel. Futures fell 1% this week but rose 1.2% this month.

U.S. consumer spending fell 0.1% in April from March, falling short of economists' expectations for a 0.1% rise. April personal income rose 0.3%, below the forecasted 0.4% increase.

"I don't think the economic data was all that exciting," and it spurred some traders who had bet on higher prices to lock in their profits, said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

Adding to demand concerns is the rising supply of crude oil in the U.S. Stocks climbed to 393 million barrels last week, not far from the record high of 399.4 million barrels reached in the week ended April 25, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Despite rising domestic supplies, U.S. oil prices ended the month up 3%, as traders focused on falling inventories at the Nymex delivery point in Cushing, Okla.

Cushing supplies fell by 1.7 million barrels last week to 21.7 million barrels, the lowest level since 2008.

Some analysts have said at 20 million barrels, Cushing supplies reach operational minimum capacity, meaning oil cannot be easily pumped out of storage.

Cushing supplies should remain in focus in the coming weeks, as concerns increase about the abilty to deliver benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil, Mr. Flynn said.

Front-month June reformulated gasoline blendstock, or RBOB, settled down 1.71 cents, or 0.6%, at $2.9965 a gallon. The June contract expired at settlement Friday. The July contract fell 2.39 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.9719 a gallon.

June diesel, which also expired Friday, settled down 3.44 cents, or 1.2%, at $2.8846 a gallon, the lowest settlement price since April 2. July diesel fell 3.17 cents, or 1.1%, to $2.8882 a gallon.