US oil price drops amid ample supplies

New York: US oil price retreated on Thursday as US stockpiles added last week.

US crude supplies of last week gained 0.3 million barrels to 487.3 million barrels, 106.2 million barrels more than one year before, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA)'s Wednesday weekly report.

Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for the US contract added 1.5 million barrels to 56.85 million barrels.

US crude production added 3,000 to 9.182 million barrels a day last week, according to EIA's report.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs warned on oil prices in a report that mild winter weather over the coming months (a concerning risk given current El Nino conditions) could see weak heating demand in the US and Europe.

The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery moved down 21 cents to settle at $40.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery increased 4 cents to close at $44.18 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.