Oil prices fall before US stockpiles data

LONDON: World oil prices extended losses on Wednesday, even though official data was expected to reveal a further fall in US inventories of motor fuel, analyst said.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery lost 19 cents to USD 66.81 per barrel in electronic trading.

New York's main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, slid 14 cents to USD 64.26 per barrel in electronic deals before the official open of the US market.

The New York contract fell USD 1.31 and Brent 65 cents on Tuesday, as investors shook off the latest news of kidnappings in oil-rich Nigeria and locked in some of the hefty gains from the past week, dealers said.

Nigerian militants yesterday seized four Italians, a US national and a Croatian oil worker from a floating storage vessel in the country's volatile oil-producing south and warned of further kidnappings.

In a separate incident, US oil giant Chevron today said it had shut down 15,000 barrels per day of oil production in its facility in southern Nigeria following a militant attack.

"We have shut down 15,000 bpd from Funiwa oilfield," the spokesman said.

The oil market was meanwhile awaiting the latest US stockpiles data.

"The general expectation is gasoline inventories will again show a drawdown and that will remain the over-riding issue driving the market," said Victor Shum of energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) will release its weekly update on Wednesday evening on the state of energy stockpiles and other oil reserves in the world's largest crude consumer.