Oil prices fell nearly $2 to just over $43 yesterday, dragged down by heavy losses in US gasoline futures after summer driving demand failed to meet expectations.
US light crude ended down $1.66 at $43.55 a barrel after falling to its lowest level in 11 sessions. London Brent last traded down $1.62 at $40.70 a barrel. Prices are now down nearly $6 from last week's records.
Sellers overwhelmed the market after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said gasoline stocks were unchanged at 205.7 million barrels last week, near the upper end of their five-year average.
Analysts had expected supplies to decline due to summer vacation consumption, but the EIA said gasoline demand over the past four weeks was just 0.7 per cent higher than last year.
The weak performance in gasoline stocks outweighed a fall of 1.7 million barrels in crude stocks to 291.3 million barrels, pulling inventories to their lowest level in five months.
Oil prices fell this week after Iraq restored crude exports.
European Central Bank President Mr Jean-Claude Trichet said yesterday the bank's outlook for euro-zone growth remained unchanged. "All things considered, petrol prices and all the rest, I don't think there is a need to revise downwards our forecasts for growth for the euro zone," he said.
