Oil Market: oil supplies rise, prices fell

Crude oil fell a second day after a U.S. government report yesterday showed that the country's oil inventories rose twice as much as expected last week.

Supplies, already at their highest since July 1999, rose 2.7 million barrels to 329.7 million barrels, the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/region/2002/09/21/37009.html ' target=_blank>Energy Department said. An increase of 1.25 million was expected, based on the median forecast of 16 analysts Bloomberg surveyed. Oil futures yesterday closed at $50.45 a barrel, having fallen 13 percent since reaching a record $58.28 on April 4.

&to=http:// english.pravda.ru/cis/2002/03/19/27060.html ' target=_blank>Crude oil for June delivery fell as much as 25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $50.20 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $50.31 at 9:29 a.m. Sydney time.

Yesterday, the June contract fell $1.62, or 3.1 percent, to $50.45, the lowest close since May 4. Prices today are 23 percent higher than a year ago, reports Bloomberg.

According to Reuters, U.S. oil supplies have risen about 9 percent this year as rising output from OPEC producers translated into a flood of imports.