Oil falls as big build in US crude stockpiles raises spectre of supply glut
Oil prices fell on Wednesday after a bigger-than-expected build in US crude stockpiles stoked fears for weak fuel demand and a potential supply glut, but hopes that OPEC and its allies will postpone a planned January increase to oil output braked losses.
Brent crude futures for January dropped 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $43.61 a barrel by 0142 GMT having lost 0.2% on Tuesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude for December slid 25 cents, or 0.6%, to $41.18 a barrel, reversing a 0.2% gain on Tuesday.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday that US crude inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels last week, well above analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a build of 1.7 million barrels.
