LONDON, May 18: World oil prices fell strongly on Wednesday, overturning earlier gains, after official data showed US crude inventories at the highest level for six years, easing concerns over possible supply shortages. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, tumbled $1.07 to $47.90 per barrel in early deals, having hit an intra-day low of $47.65.

In London, the price of Brent North Sea crude oil for delivery in July dropped 90 cents to $48.44 per barrel. “Prices have fallen after the larger than expected build in crude stocks,” Informa Global Markets analyst Peter Luxton said.

US crude oil stockpiles rose over the past week to the highest level in six years, the government said on Wednesday in a report that smashed analysts’ forecasts. The US Department of Energy (DoE) said crude oil inventories for the week ended May 13 rose by 4.3 million barrels to 334 million barrels, the highest monthly figure since May 1999.

Wall Street analysts had been expecting an increase of only about one million barrels.

“It is a very, very big increase when compared with the analysts’ consensus forecast,” said an analyst at a European bank who wished to remain anonymous. “A rise of 4.3 million barrels is truly enormous.”

The private-sector American Petroleum Institute said that its own survey of oil brokers showed an increase of 2.53 million barrels in the week to 331.26 million.

The DoE, meanwhile, said that gasoline supplies rose 1.1m barrels over the week to 214.8m, far more than the 800,000 barrels foreseen by analysts. The API data gave an increase of 317,000 barrels to 213.53 million. That eased fears of a supply shortfall heading into the US summer driving season, when demand for petrol peaks in the world’s biggest oil-consuming nation.—AFP