Oil prices fall on rising U.S. inventories

Oil prices dropped on Wednesday as U.S. crude inventories rose for the eighth straight week.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose 1.5 million barrels in the February 24 week to 520.2 million, up 6.9 percent from last year at this time, data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.

Consecutive increases of U.S. stockpiles have fueled concerns that major world producers' output cut efforts may not be enough to ease global oil glut.

The West Texas Intermediate for April Delivery erased 0.18 dollars to settle at 53.83 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for May delivery decreased 0.15 dollars to close at 56.36 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem