Crude oil fell for a fourth consecutive day, the longest streak in almost two months, on signs that the US economy’s growth rate was slowing down. WTI crude future fell by 0.40 percent to USD $ 108.80 per barrel, while Brent crude future fell by 0.16 percent to USD $ 121 per barrel.
Reports released by the Energy Department showed that demand for gasoline in the US fell by 2.2 percent to 8.94 million barrels per day. Furthermore, the level of US crude inventories rose by 3.42 million barrels to 366.5 million barrels last week, while the crude stockpiles at Cushing,Oklahoma increased by 102,000 barrels. A rise in the stockpile level signals a reduced level of demand for oil.
There were also reports that showed that the US economy grew at a much slower rate, signalling a slowdown in the demand of oil. The Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing index fell to the lowest level since August 2010 to 52.8 in April.Also,employment rose only by 179,000 new jobs in April, lower than 198,000 new jobs estimated by economists in a Bloomberg survey.