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1st LD Writethru: Oil prices retreat as inventories climb

Xinhua, February 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Oil prices retreated Wednesday as figures show that last week's U.S. crude inventories increased.

Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Energy Department' s statistical arm, released Wednesday its report covering U.S. crude supplies of the week ending Jan. 30. U.S. crude stockpiles increased 6.3 million barrels to 413.1 million, 55 million barrels more than a year earlier.

Oil prices also dropped as traders took profit of the previous gains. Crude price jumped about 20 percent during the last three trading days amid signs of slowing production.

A list of energy giants planned to slash investment this year as lower crude prices bite into their profits.

Oil giant BP said Tuesday that spending in 2015 was expected to total about 20 billion dollars, down from a previous guidance of 24-to-26 billion dollars.

Chevron Corporation announced last Friday a 35-billion-dollar capital and exploratory investment program for 2015. The 2015 budget is 13 percent lower than total investments for 2014.

Data from service company Baker Hughes showed the number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States fell by 7 percent last week.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery lost 4.60 U.S. dollars to settle at 48.45 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,while Brent crude for March delivery moved down 3.75 dollars to close at 54.16 dollars a barrel. Endite