Oil prices fell to near US$82 a barrel yesterday in Asia after a report showed a surge in US crude supplies undermined hope demand is improving.
Benchmark oil for December delivery was down US37c at US$82.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose US3c to settle at US$82.55 on Tuesday. The American Petroleum Institute said crude inventories rose 6.4 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill, had forecast a rise of 1.5 million barrels. Inventories of petrol fell while distillates rose.
Investors are also looking for hints about the size of a Treasury bond-buying programme the Federal Reserve may implement next week to spur economic growth, known as quantitative easing.
"The surprisingly large build in API crude oil stocks could work with a stronger US dollar, a watered-down [quantative easing] event and technical resistance to turn oil prices lower from here," said Cameron Hanover.
Natural gas slid US4.4c to US$3.31 per 1000 cubic feet.
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