August 17, 2006	Thursday	Rajab 21, 1427

LONDON, Aug 16: Crude prices fell further on Wednesday after news that US energy inventories slid last week owing to strong American demand and a partial shutdown at a giant Alaskan oil field run by BP, dealers said.

In London on Wednesday, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery fell 75 cents to $73.05 per barrel in electronic deals.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, sank 80 cents to $72.25 per barrel in pit trading, after earlier hitting $72.05 -- the lowest point since July 20.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) revealed on Wednesday that crude inventories fell 1.6 million barrels to 331 million barrels in the week to August 11. That was more than the drop of 1.3 million forecast by analysts.

“The crude stock change was pretty much as expected ... as we all knew that there was a problem with Prudhoe Bay,” noted Societe Generale analyst Deborah White.

Gasoline or petrol reserves fell by 2.3 million barrels to 205.4 million barrels. That was a larger drop than the forecast decline of 1.8 million, highlighting robust US demand for motor fuel.

Meanwhile, traders also reacted on Wednesday to news that the Washington-bound flight had been diverted to Boston.

“When that news came across, the market started selling very hard and paid a hell of a lot more attention to that piece of news than it did to the DoE’s because the market’s initial reaction was al-Qaeda and terrorism,” White said.—AFP