Sharp rise in US crude reserves pulls down oil prices

05-Apr-13

Oil on the Nymex for May delivery settled at US$94.4, while, Brent crude for May delivery dropped by over 3% to US$107.1. Oil prices slumped on data from USA indicating huge increases in supplies of US crude, suggesting weak demand. As per a report by US Energy Information Administration, US crude reserves rose 2.7 miln barrels to 388.6 mln barrels. The US private sector added just 158,000 jobs in March, according to payrolls firm ADP, well below the estimate of 197,000. Growth in the US services sector also slowed in March, according to data from the Institute for Supply Management- the non-manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 54.4 in March, down from 56 in February.