Crude oil trading continues to fall

The lengthy slump in crude oil trading continued unabashed on Wednesday as higher than expected stockpiles added to the general malaise that engulfs the commodity.

US crude has fallen for five out of the last seven days of trading, with Libya re-entering the market in a big way being a major contributor. A lack of Islamic State action near Iraq's oil fields has also helped, as has the significant upturn in America's shale gas drilling operations.

This in particular has helped to build up inventories, as the oil alternative is being used instead. Last week, this manifested itself in stockpiles increasing by 5.1 million barrels, rather than the anticipated 1.4 million rise.

Crude oil trading has future factors to think about too, with the IMF downgrading global economic growth forecasts and data suggesting that Germany's economy could slip into recession. At 0700GMT, US crude was priced at $87.71 a barrel.