Oil drops on sharp rise in US stockpiles

Oil prices fell on Thursday and remain under pressure in Asian session today after the data released in the US showed oil and gasoline stocks rose sharply.

At the time of writing, WTI oil was trading 30 cents or 0.56% lower at $53.60/barrel. Brent oil was down 22 cents or 0.40% at $56.60/barrel.

The Energy Information Administration data released yesterday showed stocks grew last week by an unexpected 6.5 million barrels to 494.76 million barrels. The actual figure was way above the consensus estimate of 3.3 million barrels. The data also showed gasoline stocks increased by 3.9 million barrels.

The bearish data overshadowed Reuters survey, which showed OPEC compliance around 80%.