Oil prices fall as stockpiles drop past analyst expectations

Oil prices fall as stockpiles drop past analyst expectations

Oil prices fell on Friday morning as stockpiles took a sharper decline than analysts expected. This was confirmed by a report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA said that crude inventories had declined by 2.5 million barrels compared to the expected drop of 750,000 barrels.

“What sticks out for me is the dramatic builds we saw in products decidedly overtaking the sentiment here, despite the draw in crude oil,” said Tony Headrick, energy markets analysts at CHS Hedging in a quote by Reuters.

U.S. Crude Oil WTI Futures fell by 0.02% to $58.81 by 09:07PM ET (02:07 GMT), while International Brent Oil Futures dropped by 0.17% to $64.57.

Oil prices had hit peak records last week after armed attacks between the U.S. and Iran on Iraqi soil sparked tensions. The flames were further fanned after the downing of a Ukranian commercial jet en route to Kiev, which Iran later admitted as a blunder.

Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz is a key factor in the flow of oil.