TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday after
official figures showed a big increase in U.S. gasoline stocks,
causing concerns about demand for crude weakening in the world's
biggest consumer of the resource at a time when supplies around
the world are rising.
Brent crude LCOc1 eased 36 cents, or 0.6%, to $62.80 a
barrel by 0136 GMT. U.S. oil CLc1 fell 38 cents, or 0.6%, to
$59.39 a barrel.
While crude stocks in the United States fell more than
forecast by analysts, gasoline inventories jumped sharply, also
against expectations, the Department of Energy said on
Wednesday.
Oil inventories dropped by 3.5 million barrels last week to
nearly 502 million barrels, while gasoline stocks increased by 4
million barrels, against expectations of a decline, to just over
230 million barrels, as refiners ramped up production before the
summer driving season. EIA/S
"Refiners may want to pull back on the run rate a bit to
keep gasoline storage from challenging the all-time record,"
said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho
Securities.
At the same time, supply is rising across the world with
Russian output increasing from average March levels in the first
few days of April, traders said. Iran may see some sanctions lifted and add to global
supplies, with the U.S. and other powers holding talks on
reviving a nuclear deal that almost stopped Iranian oil from
coming to market. Still, the International Monetary Fund said earlier this
week that the massive public spending deployed to combat the
COVID-19 pandemic may increase global growth to 6% this year, a
rate not achieved since the 1970s.
Higher economic growth would boost demand for oil and its
products, helping to reduce stockpiles.