* U.S. inventories rose by 4.3 mln barrels last week - API
* IMF cuts euro zone growth forecasts
* Iran starts injecting uranium gas into centrifuges
(Updates prices)
By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Jane Chung
LONDON/SEOUL, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday
after a larger-than-expected build in U.S. crude inventories and
weak euro zone economic figures, reversing some of the gains of
the previous three sessions.
Brent crude LCOc1 was down 32 cents at $62.64 a barrel by
1439 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 7 cents
at $57.16 per barrel.
The slide followed figures from the American Petroleum
Institute (API) showing U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.3
million barrels in the week ended Nov. 1 to 440.5 million
barrels. Analysts forecast a rise of just 1.5 million barrels.
API/S
Official data from the U.S. government's Energy Information
Administration (EIA) is due later on Wednesday.
"Market participants will closely monitor if the build is
confirmed by the EIA later today, considering that last week API
had a crude draw and the EIA a crude build," said Giovanni
Staunovo, oil analyst for UBS.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said euro zone
economic growth was set to slow more than expected as the bloc's
manufacturing crisis could spill over to the larger services
sector under global trade tensions. Data on Wednesday showed Germany's services sector barely
grew in October, while euro zone business activity expanded
slightly faster than expected last month but remained close to
stagnation.
Middle East tensions offered some support, as Iran started
to inject uranium gas into centrifuges at an underground nuclear
facility, further distancing itself from a 2015 nuclear deal
between Tehran and world powers. The United States pulled out of the nuclear pact last year
and has imposed tough new sanctions on Iran.
"Alongside the continued rolling back of its nuclear
commitments, the OPEC nation may be tempted to cause further
supply disruptions in the Middle East in a bid to drive up
prices," PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said.
"Accordingly, conditions are ripe for tensions in the region
to escalate and for the geopolitical risk premium to strike back
with a vengeance."
However, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the
current oil price of more than $60 per barrel showed that
markets were stable. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oil production in U.S. vs. OPEC png https://tmsnrt.rs/2NmETa0
Euro zone composite purchasing managers' index png https://tmsnrt.rs/2PQXzRZ
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