Oil prices fell during trading on Thursday despite a significant drop in US crude inventories to record the lowest oil levels in two weeks.
The agenda of the Danish shipping company “Maersk” showed that a few of its container ships will continue to be diverted through the Cape of Good Hope route, while 50 of its ships are scheduled to pass through the Suez Canal over the next few weeks.
The Energy Information Administration revealed in its data today that oil inventories in America fell by 7.1 million barrels to 436.6 million barrels, while analysts expected a decrease of 2.7 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories decreased by 0.6 million barrels to 226.1 million barrels, while distillate inventories increased by about 800 thousand barrels to 115.8 million barrels.
On the trading front, futures for benchmark Brent crude for March delivery fell by 3% to 2.39 dollars at 77.15 dollars per barrel, the lowest level at the end of the session since the middle of this month.
Us NYMEX crude contracts for February delivery fell by 3.15% or 2.34 dollars to 71.77 dollars per barrel, the lowest settlement since the thirteenth session of December.
