Thursday, March 16 2006 09:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: World oil prices slid after news that stockpiles of US crude oil jumped for the fifth week in a row to seven-year highs, dealers said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, dropped 93 cents to close at USD 62.17 a barrel yesterday(Mar 15,2006).

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for April delivery slid 1.03 dollars to end trade at US$ 62.94 a barrel.

Crude futures had surged by more than three dollars this week on concerns over tight supplies of US gasoline, or petrol, and lingering tensions in major crude producers Iran and Nigeria.

But sentiment changed after the Department of Energy (DoE) said yesterday that US crude inventories increased by 4.8 million barrels in the week to March 10 to stand at 339.9 million - the highest level since April 1999.

That was double analysts' consensus forecasts of a 2.4-million-barrel build. "The data was bearish for crude, neutral for gasoline and bullish for heating oil," AG Edwards analyst Bill O'Grady said.

"So far, the market's reaction has been surprisingly strong, perhaps on the recovery in runs (at refineries)," he said.

The DoE said that gasoline stocks fell 900,000 barrels to 223.9 million, in line with forecasts for a drop of 873,000 barrels.

Reserves of distillates, used for heating oil and diesel fuel, fell by 3.9 million barrels to 127.5 million. That was bigger than the 1.3-million-barrel drop expected by analysts.