Singapore — Oil prices fell on Thursday, pulled down by record US crude production that led to a surge in stockpiles. Outside the US, however, oil markets remained tense as exemptions to US sanctions on Iran expired, a political crisis in Venezuela escalates, and as producer club Opec keeps withholding supply. Spot Brent crude oil futures were at $71.91 per barrel at 2.39am GMT, 27 cents, or 0.4%, below their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 19 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.41 per barrel. “Crude oil prices fell sharply as stockpiles in the US rose to their highest level since 2017,” ANZ bank said on Thursday. “This comes as US refineries head into the spring maintenance period, stoking fears that crude oil demand will be soft and stockpiles will continue to rise,” it added. US crude stockpiles last week rose to their highest since September 2017, jumping by 9.9-million barrels to 470.6 barrels, as production set a record high of 12.3-million barrels per ...
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