Crude futures drop as US inventories hit 80-year high

Commercial US crude oil inventories jumped sharply over the seven days ended on 3 April.

They rose by 10.7m barrels from the previous week to stand at 482.4m barrels. That was their highest level during this period for 80 years, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) statistical arm.

Refineries operated at 90.1% of their capacity, the EIA added.

US crude oil imports averaged over 8.2m barrels per day last week, up by 869,000 barrels per day from the previous week.

As of 16:09 front month West Texas crude futures were falling 4.09% to $51.79 per barrel in NYMEX trading.