Benchmark U.S. oil futures slipped in electronic trading Wednesday, as Hurricane Isaac came ashore and new data showed crude inventories rose in the previous week. Crude for October delivery CLV2 lost 30 cents or about 0.3% to trade at $96.03 a barrel during Asian hours, paring the contract's 0.9% gain during the regular New York Mercantile Exchange session Tuesday. The previous session's gain had been made amid jitters about Hurricane Isaac's impact on Gulf of Mexico energy activity. But with the category-1 hurricane coming ashore late Tuesday in southern Louisiana, the concerns appeared to ease. Also weighing on crude was the American Petroleum Institute's weekly inventory report, which showed crude stockpiles rising 5.5 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 24. Read more on API crude-oil inventory report. The API report set the scene for the Energy Information Administration's weekly report, seen as more authoritative, with a Platts survey of analysts expecting a 2 million barrel drop. September gasoline futures RBU2 tracked crude lower with a 0.2% drop to $3.12 a gallon, despite a 2.4-million-barrel drop in inventories, according to the API report. Elsewhere in the energy complex, September heating oil HOU2 also slipped 0.2% to hit an identical $3.12 a gallon, while September natural-gas futures NGU2 gave up 0.8% to $2.59 per million British thermal units. Marketwatch
