Investing.com - Crude oil prices fell in Asia on Thursday on bearish government data on U.S. petroleum stocks that signalled the summer driving season is not as robust as expected.
In its weekly report on domestic oil supplies, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said crude stockpiles fell 3.4 million barrels in the week ended May 30, a nominally bullish figure given expectations and reports of a much smaller decline.
Analysts expected stockpiles to fall for the week, and the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group that conducts its own survey of crude inventories, reported late Tuesday that inventories declined by 1.4 million barrels.
But the decline was largely due to a reduction in imports, and the report also contained bearish news for refined products, with demand falling and inventories rising for gasoline and distillates, which include heating oil and diesel. Falling gasoline demand was bearish since summer driving season is underway.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, U.S. crude oil for delivery in July traded at $102.26 a barrel, down 0.38%.
The Brent oil contract fell 0.4% to $108.40 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, its fourth consecutive losing session.