Oil Declines From Multi-Year-Highs Over Build In US Crude Stocks

Oil prices dropped on Thursday after record-high price rallies as an unexpected build in US crude oil inventories signaled declining demand in the world's largest oil-consuming country.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $82.94 per barrel at 06.57 GMT for a 1.10% decrease after closing Wednesday at $83.87 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $81.78 a barrel at the same time for a 1.06% fall after ending the previous session at $82.66 per barrel.

A surprise build in the US crude oil inventories, indicating a fall in demand, spurred Thursday's price slump.

US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 4.3 million barrels to 430.8 million barrels, higher than the market expectation of a 1.65 million-barrel rise, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

In their meeting earlier in October, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, also known as OPEC+, decided to keep its output unchanged instead of ramping up production in line with the rising demand for crude oil.

Both benchmarks faced multi-year-high levels after the world's largest oil producers failed to respond to the low supply crisis on the global markets, which badly affected global economies recovering from demand damages due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investors are now keeping tabs on next week's meeting of the OPEC+ group. However, the cartel is expected to keep its monthly strategy of boosting output by 400,000 barrels per day. -