Oil prices slid more than one per cent on Wednesday, paring the previous day’s gains, as a jump in US crude inventories and surging Covid-19 cases raised fears of an oversupply of oil and weak fuel demand.
In early Asia, Brent crude was down 61 cents, or 1.5 per cent, at $40.59 a barrel by 0033 GMT, having climbed nearly 2 per cent the previous day. US oil was down 66 cents, or 1.7 per cent, at $38.91 a barrel, after gaining 2.6 per cent on Tuesday.
US crude oil and gasoline stocks rose last week, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed, with crude inventories rising by 4.6 million barrels to about 495.2 million barrels, against analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a build of 1.2 million barrels.
