LONDON: Brent crude oil dropped towards $103 per barrel on Wednesday after data showing a surprise jump in US gasoline stockpiles sparked worries that summer demand in the world's top oil consumer could be weaker than expected.
The American Petroleum Institute said late on Tuesday US gasoline inventories rose by 3 million barrels last week, suggesting the US domestic fuel market would be well supplied during the peak driving season.
Investors awaited oil inventory figures from the US government's Energy Information Agency (EIA), due at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) to see if they confirmed the data.
But a slight weakening of the dollar from 34-month highs helped steady oil, which tends to move inversely to the US currency.
Brent crude fell 60 cents to $103.31 per barrel by 0845 GMT, after shedding nearly a dollar in the previous session. US crude lost 30 cents to $95.88.
"Investors are worried oil fundamentals are weakening with less demand than expected and better supplies," said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"Higher US gasoline stockpiles, revised demand growth estimates and more oil from non-OPEC producers are all negative and there is little geopolitical tension to help prices."
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