same old same old20 Mar 2015 13:21
World oil (Other OTC: WOGI - news) prices dropped on Friday with the market under persistent pressure from large supplies of crude and a strong dollar, traders said.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April fell 51 cents to $43.45 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for May slipped 57 cents to $53.86 a barrel around midday in London.
"Market sentiment seems to be dominated by inventories this week, with levels across Europe, Asia and the US building steadily over the past week," said Kash Kamal, senior research analyst at Sucden brokers.
Markets are tracking the global supply glut, made worse by the 10th straight weekly increase in US crude inventories.
Data from the US Department of Energy on Wednesday showed US crude stocks jumped 9.6 million barrels for the week ending March 13, taking inventories to the highest level in at least the last 80 years.
"Traders are still wary of the oversupply situation," said Ric Spooner, market analyst with CMC Markets in Sydney.