Crude Oil Prices Fall on Less-Than-Expected Supply Decline

Crude oil prices fall on less-than-expected supply decline

NEW YORK, July 20 (Xinhua) — Crude oil prices fell Wednesday after a government report showed US crude inventory declined less than analysts had expected.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude oil futures for August delivery fell 74 cents to end at 56.72 dollars a barrel, and oil futures for September delivery declined 67 cents to end at 58.02 dollars a barrel. The August contract expired at the close of Nymex floor trading today.

The September Brent crude-oil futures contract shed 71 cents to settle at 56.65 dollars per barrel on London’s International Petroleum Exchange.

The Energy Department said US crude oil supply fell 900,000 barrels last week, less than the decline of 3.45 million barrels some analysts had expected earlier. US inventory of crude oil stood at 320.1 million barrels, or 7.1 percent above the five-year average.

US crude imports averaged 10.8 million barrels a day last week, up 871,000 daily barrels from the previous week. However, traders worried that next week’s US inventory report might show a drop in imports after Hurricane Emily shut down some production along the Gulf of Mexico.