Oil fell

West Texas Intermediate crude dropped to the lowest level in more than a week amid speculation that the Federal Reserve will reduce economic stimulus.

Futures fell as much as 0.8 percent. The Federal Open Market Committee will publish minutes of a July meeting today, with 65 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecasting the Fed will taper bond purchases next month. A U.S. government report today showed U.S. crude supplies decreased by 1.43 million barrels, near a forecast 1.5 million-barrel decline.

WTI crude for October delivery slid 26 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $104.85 a barrel at 10:48 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract traded at $104.75 before the release of the report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. The volume of all futures traded was 8.4 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for October settlement dropped 5 cents to $110.10 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Trading of futures was 9.2 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude traded at a $5.25 premium to WTI. The spread was $5.04 at yesterday’s settlement, the widest since June 28.