Oil prices retreat further after US crude inventory data

Oil prices extended losses Wednesday as official data showed bigger-than-expected weekly builds in U.S. petroleum products.

U.S. inventories of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 4.6 million barrels in the week to Sept. 9, versus analysts' expectations of an increase of 1.5 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report Wednesday.

Meanwhile, U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 567,000 barrels last week, also beating market estimates, according to the EIA.

U.S. crude inventories, however, fell 559,000 barrels last week. Analysts had expected a build of 3.8 million barrels.

The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery dropped 1.32 U.S. dollars to settle at 43.58 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for November delivery lost 1.25 dollars to close at 45.85 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

On Tuesday, the oil prices dropped as worries about a global supply glut continued to weigh on the market.

Global oil demand growth was slowing at a faster pace than initially predicted, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its September report published on Tuesday.

Source : XINHUA