Oil prices continued their losses in early Asian trading today after a report showed increased US crude and fuel inventories, raising concerns about demand growth.
Brent crude futures fell 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $77.38 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 18 cents, or 0.3%, to $73.07 per barrel.
Both contracts fell about a dollar in yesterday’s session, Tuesday, and about three dollars a barrel last Monday.
Sources quoted from the American Petroleum Institute said that stocks of crude oil, gasoline and distillates in the US rose last week. High inventories are usually a sign that supplies are exceeding demand.
Figures from the American Petroleum Institute showed that crude inventories rose by more than four million barrels in the week ending May 31, compared to analysts’ expectations of a decrease of 2.3 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks also rose by more than four million barrels, much more than the two million barrel increase analysts expected.
