SINGAPORE- Oil prices extended losses for a third session, dragged down by a larger-than-expected crude and gasoline stockbuild in the US and easing supply concerns.
Brent futures slipped by 41 cents, or 0.48 percent , to $85.41 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 49 cents, or 0.59 percent , to $83 a barrel.
Both benchmarks have given back most early-week gains.
US crude oil stockpiles swelled by about 12.9 million barrels, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday.
This was much higher than the 500,000-barrel gain expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
“Unlikely to help sentiment this morning are API inventory numbers…Lower refinery run rates due to maintenance likely contributed to this build,” said ING analysts in a client note.
Gasoline inventories also rose by 3.6 million barrels, the data showed, a stark contrast from the 800,000-barrel drop expected by analysts and continued to stoke worries of slowing fuel demand in the US
“Fuel prices may be closer to consumers’ pain threshold than inflation-adjusted prices might suggest. There are already signs that consumers have responded by cutting back on fuel consumption,” JP Morgan analysts said in a client note.
“In PADD 5, of which California is the biggest consumer, we estimate gasoline demand dropped 100,000 barrels per day between June and September, to a seven-month low of 1.46 million barrels per day,” they added.
