Oil falls despite US crude inventories falling for 5th straight week

Oil prices fell during trading today despite the decline of US dollar against most of the major currencies and the decline of US crude inventories for the fifth week in a row, according to official data released today. 

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced a decline in crude inventories in the United States by about 3.1 million barrels during last week, while analysts expected a decline of about 2.7 million barrels.

The American Petroleum Institute announced yesterday in its preliminary data that oil inventories fell 1.4 million barrels during last week.

In a related context, by 17:08 GMT, the dollar index fell (against a number of major currencies) by 0.2% to 97.2 points, reaching a high of 97.4 points and a low of 97.1 points.

In terms of trading, by 17:05 GMT, West Texas fell by 1.2% to $56.9 per barrel, with the highest price at $58.3 and the lowest at $56.8.

Brent fell 0.7% to $63.8 per barrel, with a high of $65.2 and a low of $63.7.