West Texas Intermediate fell amid speculation that gasoline and distillate stockpiles increased last week in the U.S., signaling ample supply in the world’s biggest oil consumer. Futures dropped as much as 0.3 percent in New York . U.S. gasoline inventories rose by 1.75 million barrels in the seven days ended Dec. 13, adding to three weeks of gains, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts before data from the Energy Information Administration tomorrow. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release separate stockpile data today. “Inventory figures will be important against a background of significant stockpile build-up,” said Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “The market will want to see some inroads into that.” WTI for January delivery declined as much as 25 cents to $97.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange , and was at $97.38 at […]