Crude oil fell as the rising U.S. dollar reduced the appeal of commodities as a hedge against the currency. Oil, gold and copper declined as the dollar gained for the third time in four days against the euro and yen on speculation rising U.S. retail sales will support the Federal Reserve’s case for raising interest rates. Oil climbed more than $5 a barrel yesterday on lower U.S. stockpiles and traders may be selling contracts to lock in gains. “The dollar is dominating everything again,” said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at Sucden (U.K.) Ltd. in London. “There is a bit of profit-taking after the rally. There are really aggressive speculators in the market.” Crude oil for July delivery declined as much as $3.78, or 2.8 percent, to $132.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $133.32 a barrel at 1:42 p.m. London time. OPEC President Chakib Khelil said the oil-producer group won’t raise output at a summit with consuming nations in Saudi Arabia later this month. Yesterday, oil rose $5.07, or 3.9 percent, to settle at $136.38 a barrel. Oil futures have doubled in the past year, reaching an all-time high of $139.12 a barrel on June 6, as investors looking to hedge against the dollar’s drop helped push oil, gold and corn to records. The dollar rose to $1.5416 per euro at 12:45 p.m. in London from $1.5552 late yesterday in New York. The U.S. currency gained to 107.40 Japanese yen from 106.96 yen. Brent crude oil for July settlement fell as much as $3.23, or 2.4 percent, to $131.79 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange. It traded at $132.20 a barrel at 1:42 p.m. local time. It rose $4, or 3.1 percent, to $135.02 a barrel yesterday. Prices climbed to a record $138.12 on June 6. The July Brent contract expires tomorrow. The more-active August future was at $134.19 a barrel, down $2.07. “The high volatility of the last days could indicate that the end of the oil price rally could be seen in the near future,” said Gerrit Zambo, a trader for BayernLB in Munich. “Nevertheless, the probability of another spike to $140 to $150 a barrel still seems to be quite high.” U.S. crude supplies fell 4.56 million barrels to 302.2 million last week, the Energy Department said yesterday, three times what was forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Inventories have dropped 7.2 percent since May 9. A proposed strike by Chevron Corp. employees in Nigeria is threatening to halt as much as 350,000 barrels a day of crude production and 14 million cubic feet a day of natural gas from the company’s 32 fields in Nigeria. Nigeria’s senior white-collar oil workers’ union is making a final effort to avoid a strike during talks with Chevron’s local unit, an official said. “The talks are not going well,” Lumumba Okugbawa, deputy secretary general of Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or Pengassan, said. The strike could come as early as tomorrow should talks break down, he said.

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