Summary World oil prices dropped after OPEC trimmed its oil demand growth forecast and a US supply report.
NEW YORK (AFP) - World oil prices dropped Wednesday after OPEC trimmed its oil demand growth forecast and a US supply report showed surprisingly high inventories.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery declined $1.08 to $91.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest closing price since January.
European benchmark Brent oil for October delivery fell $1.12 to $98.04 a barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.
The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revised down slightly its global oil demand growth forecasts for both 2014 and 2015.
The 12-nation cartel said in a monthly report that oil demand was set to grow by 1.05 million barrels per day in 2014 to 91.2 million barrels a day, trimming 50,000 barrels from the previous growth outlook.
Demand in 2015 is expected to grow by 1.19 million barrels per day, 20,000 barrels a day less than before.
The OPEC forecast "dented the already bearish sentiment and caused the price of Brent to move further below the psychological $100 mark," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
US crude inventories declined by 1.0 million barrels for the week ending September 5, less than the 1.2 million drop projected by analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey.
The EIA report also showed higher-than-expected inventories of gasoline and distillates.
"Crude inventories dropped but not as much as people thought," said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities.
Melek also said investors see "a little bit less risk to supply on the geopolitical front," with markets becoming more accustomed to politically-fraught situations in Ukraine and Iraq.
Also Wednesday, Libyan officials gave a bullish outlook for oil production, despite ongoing strife in the country.
Oil output in the North African country had reached 810,000 barrels per day by Wednesday, compared with 550,000 at the end of August and 200,000 at the beginning of the summer, said National Oil Co spokesman Mohamed al-Hrari.
Libya expects to reach 1.5 million barrels per day by the end of 2014, al-Hrari said.
