US crude continues slide post-inventories

Supply data led to the US crude price continuing to fall away yesterday, but much of the damage had already been done during Tuesday's session.

Having been stable a little shy of $104 a barrel for around a week, the commodity shed close to two dollars during the second day of trading this week after investors got spooked into getting rid ahead of big inventory increases.

As it transpired, they were right to make the move, as the EIA indicated on Wednesday that stockpiles grew by 3.52 million barrels up to the end of last week, more than the expected 2.27 million.

However, it was still some way short of the 10-million-barrel increase the previous week, which helped limit losses somewhat, while edginess over Ukraine's pledge to renew its purge of rebels has kept crude oil trading on edge. By 0700 GMT, the US crude price sat at $101.75 a barrel.