Crude oil prices extended their losses Thursday after the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly report on petroleum stocks eased concerns of supply disruptions from hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, AP reported. In Kuwait, OPEC's president expressed confidence that price declines over the past two days were «a positive start» to price stabilization. Still, analysts cautioned of a possible time lag, saying next week's U.S. data could reveal shortfalls caused by the storms. Light, sweet crude for September fell 74 cents by midday in Europe to trade at US$57.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil dropped by more than 1 1/2 cents to US$1.5822 a gallon, while unleaded gasoline was down just over a penny, fetching US$1.6650 a gallon. On London's International Petroleum Exchange, September Brent futures slipped 60 cents to US$56.00 a barrel. The U.S. midweek supply report showed a build in distillate fuels _ which includes heating oil, diesel and jet fuel _ while crude inventories declined less than expected, showing that Hurricane Dennis caused little damage to output in the Gulf of Mexico. Inventories of crude oil slipped by 900,000 barrels to 320.1 million barrels, or 7 percent above year-ago levels, the agency said. Analysts said traders were expecting a decline of at least twice that much. Distillates grew by 2.3 million barrels to 122.7 million barrels, or 5 percent above year-ago levels. --mor 1358 Local Time 1058 GMT
