NEW YORK, Feb 17 — Oil prices fell on Thursday, weighed by a large build in US crude stockpiles, reported Xinhua.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery dropped 10 cents, or 0.13 per cent, to settle at US$78.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery lost 24 cents, or 0.28 per cent, to close at US$85.14 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The decline came as traders continued to weigh data on US fuel stocks.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that the country’s commercial crude oil inventories increased by 16.3 million barrels during the week ending February 10. Analysts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights had estimated a rise of 600,000 barrels in US crude supplies.
According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories rose by 2.3 million barrels last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.3 million barrels.
— Bernama
