Oil slips below $80 on rising U.S. stockpiles | Reuters

Oil slips below $80 on rising U.S. stockpiles | Reuters:

Oil slipped below $80 a barrel on Thursday as the fourth weekly increase in U.S. crude inventories suggested ample supply, while Saudi-U.S. tension and falling Iranian exports lent support.

U.S. crude inventories rose 6.5 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, the fourth straight weekly increase and almost three times what analysts had forecast. [EIA/S]

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 50 cents at $79.55 a barrel at 0840 GMT. It has dropped over $7 from a 2014 high of $86.74 reached on Oct. 3. U.S. crude was down 28 cents at $69.47.