Crude oil futures end lower in New York as US fuel demand decline

Crude oil prices fell Wednesday after an Energy Department report showed that US fuel demand had declined.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude oil futures for August delivery fell 95 cents to end at 58.09 dollars a barrel. Meanwhile, on London's International Petroleum Exchange,the August Brent crude-oil futures contract shed 92 cents to settle at 56.58 dollars per barrel.

On Wednesday, US Energy Department reported that gasoline demand fell an average 215,000 barrels a day to 9.3 million, and distillate fuel demand dropped 196,000 barrels to 4 million a day.

The Department report also showed crude supplies declined 1.58 million barrels to 327.4 million in the week ended June 17. Analysts had expected a drop of 2 million barrels according to a Bloomberg's earlier survey. Inventories of distillate fuels rose 1.4 million barrels and gasoline stocks added 197,000 barrels for last week.

Norwegian oil workers and employers resolved a conflict over pay, averting a strike that could have halted as much as half of the nation's oil and gas production. The settlement further weighed on crude oil prices.

Source: Xinhua