Oil prices retreat amid ample supplies

New York, Oct 2:

Oil prices dropped on Thursday as global supplies exceeded demand.

Last week’s US crude supplies unexpectedly gained 3.9 million barrels to 457.9 million, up 96 million barrels from one year ago, according to the weekly report issued by the Energy Information Administration.

Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the US contract, lost 1 million barrels to 53 million barrels, Xinhua news agency reported.

Market also went down as International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned of the slower growth in global economy.

In the curtain-raising speech for the IMF-World Bank annual meetings Wednesday, Lagarde said that global growth will likely be weaker this year than last year, with only a modest acceleration expected in 2016, given the disappointing and uneven growth of the world economy.

The West Texas Intermediate for November delivery moved down 35 cents to settle at $44.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for November delivery decreased 68 cents to close at $47.69 a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange.  (IANS)