Crude oil futures fall 0.52 pc

Crude oil prices Thursday fell 0.52 per cent to Rs 4,415 per barrel despite a decline in the US inventories.

Traders said the fall was however restricted due to lower-than-expected drop in US gasoline stocks and ongoing supply cut by OPEC.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude for delivery in April fell by Rs 23, or 0.52 per cent, to Rs 4,415 per barrel in a business volume of 15,285 lots.

The oil contracts for delivery in June fell by Rs 20, or 0.45 per cent, to Rs 4,460 per barrel in a business volume of 64 lots.

Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.19 per cent to USD 63.57, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 0.30 per cent to USD 71.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

US crude inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels in the week to April 12, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 1.7 million barrels, Department of Energy (DoE) data has showed.