Oil prices drop on concerns about patchy demand recovery, record U.S. stocks - Reuters

Oil prices drop on concerns about patchy demand recovery, record U.S. stocks - Reuters:

Oil prices fell by about 4% on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth as coronavirus cases rise, with U.S. crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the U.S. Federal Reserve saying recovery from the pandemic could take years. 

Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 3.4%, or $1.42, to $40.31 a barrel by 0600 GMT, erasing Wednesday’s gains. Earlier in the session, Brent was down as much as $1.53, or 3.7%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 dropped 4%, or $1.60, to $38 a barrel, after being down earlier as much as $1.69, or 4.3%.

U.S. crude inventories rose unexpectedly by 5.7 million barrels in the week to June 5 to 538.1 million barrels - a record - as imports were boosted by the arrival of supplies bought by refiners when Saudi Arabia flooded the market in March and April, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.