Oil prices fell on Wednesday (Thursday morning GMT ) , as U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected last week .
Light sweet crude for April delivery fell 2.04 dollars to settle at 97.99 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange .
Brent crude for April delivery lost 53 cents to close at 108.02 dollars a barrel in London trade .
U.S. crude oil inventories rose 6.2 million barrels last week , according to the Energy Information Administration report on Wednesday , beating market expectations for an increase of two million barrels .
Gasoline supplies fell 5.23 million barrels . Refinery operations slipped to 86 percent of capacity , at least since October .
Analysts believe that the buildup of larger -than-expected in crude stocks is " bearish " for the market .
World oil demand growth for 2013 was revised up by 70 thousand barrels per day to stand at 1.05 million barrels per day , the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC ) said in its monthly report on Wednesday .
Global oil demand for 2014 is expected to rise 1.14 million barrels per day , following a revised increase of 50 thousand barrels per day from February report .
However , the persistence of concerns over Ukraine continue to support the price of Brent crude oil .
Western countries threatened further sanctions on Russia , after the Crimean autonomous republic parliament on Tuesday adopted a declaration of independence of Ukraine , which determines that the Crimea would be independent if its residents vote in favor of separation from Kiev to join Moscow in a referendum on Sunday , Xinhua demikia .
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