Singapore — Oil prices dropped on Thursday, extending falls from the previous session amid surging US crude inventories and weak demand from refineries. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $70.62 per barrel at 1.09am GMT, down 37 cents, or 0.5%, from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down by 31 cents, or 0.5%, at $61.11 per barrel. Crude futures had already fallen by about 2% the previous day. “Rising inventories and a slowdown with refined product demand could suggest we could see further pressure [on prices],” said Edward Moya, senior analyst at futures brokerage Oanda. US crude oil inventories rose last week, hitting their highest levels since July 2017, due to weak refinery demand, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. Commercial US crude inventories rose by 4.7-million barrels in the week ended May 17, to 476.8-million barrels, their highest since July 2017, the EIA data showed. Be...
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