Oil falls amid demand threat, lower-than-expected drop in stockpiles - Reuters

Oil falls amid demand threat, lower-than-expected drop in stockpiles - Reuters:

Oil prices fell on Thursday as major producers warned of a risk to demand recovery if the coronavirus crisis is prolonged, while U.S. crude inventories dropped less than expected.

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 34 cents, or 0.8%, at $45.03 a barrel by 0732 GMT. U.S. oil CLc1 was down 36 cents, or 0.8%, at $42.57 a barrel.

Stockpiles of crude in the United States fell a fourth straight week, even as net imports rose, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday. However, the 1.6 million-barrel decline for the week to Aug. 14 was less than a Reuters poll showing expectations for a 2.7 million-barrel fall.

Fuel demand was down 14% from the year-earlier period over the last four weeks, the EIA data also showed.