Crude oil prices drop after inventories up

Crude oil prices were down again on Thursday after new data showed that US inventories were up again last week. While gasoline and distillates stockpiles dropped as expected, crude supplies were up by 4.8 million barrels on the week, far more than the 2.7 million barrel increase that analysts had predicted. Gasoline inventories were down by 900,000 barrels, while distillates stockpiles dropped by 3.9 million barrels over the week ending March 10.

West Texas Intermediate crude prices were at $61.99 per barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile exchange after having lost 93 cents on Wednesday. April delivery Brent crude was down 32 cents in morning trade on the International Petroleum Exchange in London to $62.62 per barrel after a decline of $1.03 on Wednesday. With April contracts expiring at the end of the trading day on Thursday, May contracts lost 34 cents to $62.76 per barrel.