U.S. oil price edged down due to increased supply

U.S. oil price edged down due to increased supply

U.S. oil prices slipped slightly on Wednesday (Thursday morning GMT ) , after U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly rose more than expected .

The benchmark U.S. light sweet crude or West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for delivery in March, fell five cents to close at 97.36 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange , AFP reported .

While the European benchmark , Brent crude for March delivery rose 44 cents to 107.85 dollars per barrel in London .

U.S. Department of Energy ( DoE ) said U.S. crude inventories rose 6.4 million barrels in the week ending January 24 , much larger than analysts' consensus forecast for an increase of 2.2 million barrels .

Analysts were surprised by the large increase in crude oil imports to the United States and an increase in inventory in the trade center Cushing, Oklahoma , which is closely monitored .

But John Kilduff , founding partner at Again Capital , noted that distillate stocks which include heating oil and diesel , fell 4.6 million barrels , more than the 2.6 million barrels forecast by analysts .

Consumers using more heating oil because the weather is very cold attacks hit most areas of the United States .

Kilduff said the cold weather would determine the price of oil UNDER basis .

" Inventories of distillate will remain under pressure , which will provide support to the entire complex fuel oil , " Kilduff said .

Traders are also watching news of the U.S. Federal Reserve , which slashed the stimulus program of bond purchases at 10 billion , as predicted , to 65 billion U.S. dollars .

This is the second consecutive month the Fed has reduced its asset purchases by 10 billion U.S. dollars as it sees the world's largest economy continues to improve .