oil prices fall on eve of us inventory d

New York: Oil prices fell on Wednesday before the release of a report on US crude inventories as traders kept an eye on unrest in crude exporter Libya.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in March shed $1.39 to $52.14 a barrel compared with Tuesday’s close.European benchmark Brent oil for April delivery slid $2.00 to $60.53 a barrel in London.The US Department of Energy will release its weekly stockpiles report on Thursday with many analysts expecting another large rise in stocks.Last week’s report showed that US crude inventories reached their highest levels on record for this time of the year.”The market had a very nice rebound from the $44-45 low it made a little while back,” said Kyle Cooper, analyst at IAF Advisors in Houston.”But the fundamentals are still on the downside, and expectations are for a crude oil build” on Thursday.”I don’t think the production growth is going to slow in the next couple of months.”Although leading producers like Chevron and ConocoPhillips have slashed capital budgets in light of the more than 50 percent plunge in global crude prices, the cuts are not expected to significantly affect short-term production levels.Traders were also keeping an eye on developments in north African crude oil producer Libya.Infighting and sabotage in Libya has reduced output to 150,000 barrels a day, down from a high of almost 1.5 million barrels per day, according to analysts. (AFP)