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1st LD Writethru: U.S. crude price drops before major report

Xinhua, February 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. crude price declined Wednesday as traders were awaiting the U.S. crude inventories report scheduled to release Thursday.

The report, which covers U.S. crude supplies during last week, would be released by Energy Information Administration (EIA), the U.S. Energy Department's statistical arm. Analysts expected an increase in America's crude inventories.

According to last week's report, the country's crude inventories had reached the record high levels for this time of the year.

Oil prices were also under pressure as traders took profit from the previous gains. Crude prices went up for the last three trading days amid signs of lower production in the future.

A number of energy producers had planned to slash investment and rig count this year in face of historically low crude prices. U.S. field services company Baker Hughes said Friday that the number of oil drilling rigs in the country dropped by 84 to 1,056, the lowest level since August 2011.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery moved down 1.39 U.S. dollars to settle at 52.14 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery declined 2 U.S. dollars to close at 60.53 dollars a barrel. Endite