Oil prices ease after U.S. oil stock build
Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, easing on concerns over plentiful supply after surging nearly 3% during the previous session.
Brent crude futures dipped 24 cents to $76.72 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 21 cents to $72.62.
Both benchmarks rose nearly 3% on Wednesday on optimism over oil demand and U.S. debt ceiling negotiations.
Weighing on prices, U.S. oil inventories jumped unexpectedly last week due to another release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Crude inventories rose by 5 million barrels in the week to May 12 to 467.6 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 900,000-barrel drop.
