Oil prices fall, US crude headed for sharpest daily loss since early April on rise in crude stockpiles

02-Jul-15

US crude fell by over 4% to US$56.9- the largest daily loss since April 8. Brent crude fell by over US$1.5 to US$62. Oil prices slumped on Wednesday, with US crude headed for its sharpest daily loss since early April, after the first rise in crude stockpiles in the United States in more than two months, as per Reuters. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories rose by 2.4 mlnn barrels last week. The sharper drop in US crude also widened its discount towards Brent to above US$5 a barrel, the biggest gap between them in three weeks. Other factors that have been further weighing on the market are the dollar's rally on Greece's debt default, Iran's renewed efforts to reach a nuclear deal with the West to freely resume its crude exports, and signs of OPEC output at three-year highs.