Oil prices in fresh falls

Oil prices fell once more on Thursday following a brief pull-back the day before, as the market focused on a weak demand outlook for crude, analysts said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in September dropped 74 cents to stand at $103.54 a barrel in London afternoon deals.

US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate for September, eased 13 cents to $97.46 a barrel.

In volatile trading on Wednesday, Brent hit a 13-month low point at $102.37 a barrel, before rebounding strongly in line with other markets ahead of the close.

Supporting prices has been a risk premium in recent months on armed insurgencies in crude producer Iraq as well as Ukraine, a key conduit for Russian energy exports to Europe.

Downward pressure meanwhile has come from signs of weak demand, especially in the United States, which on Wednesday reported that the country's commercial crude stockpiles had risen for the first time in seven weeks.

Inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels to 367.0 million in the week ending August 8, the Department of Energy said.

Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency said that the oil market appeared to be better supplied than had been expected, as it cut its global demand forecasts for this year and next.

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