Oil down 3 pct on new Cushing builds, global growth worries

By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Thursday after data indicating new record highs in U.S. crude inventories added to worries about oversupply in a slowing global economy.

Stockpiles at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub for U.S. crude deliveries rose by more than 503,000 barrels to reach above 67.5 million barrels between Feb. 19 and Feb. 24, market intelligence provider Genscape reported, traders who saw the data said.

U.S. government data on Wednesday showed that Cushing stockpiles rose 333,000 barrels last week to reach 65.1 million for a fourth straight week of record highs. Inventories for all of the United States are at all-time peaks above 507 million barrels. [EIA/S]

U.S. crude futures were down $1 at $31.15 a barrel by 10:50 a.m. EST (1550 GMT).

Brent crude futures also fell $1 to $33.41 a barrel.

"Throwing in a further Cushing build to the overall record in stocks makes it very difficult for this market to rally," said Pete Donovan, broker at New York's Liquidity Energy.

Economists at Citi cut their forecast for this year's global economic growth to 2.5 percent from a previous 2.7 percent, citing slowing growth concerns.

"Global growth prospects are worsening further, with deterioration across advanced economies alongside previous weakness in emerging markets," the note said.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London; Editing by Marguerita Choy)