Oil prices fall below $122
Oil prices fell slightly on Wednesday after a brief rally to stand below 122 dollars a barrel as the market awaited weekly data on the health of energy inventories in the United States.
Ahead of the data, traders digested news that Libya had resumed deliveries of oil to Switzerland that had been cut off last Thursday over a diplomatic row between the two countries.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for September delivery, shed 54 cents to 121.65 dollars a barrel in electronic deals.
Brent North Sea crude for September dropped 45 cents to 122.26 dollars a barrel.
"Oil futures were a little lower, consolidating after losses yesterday (Tuesday) and ahead of the weekly US fuel inventories report," said Sucden analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov.
Oil prices had tumbled on Tuesday, partly owing to market concerns about weakening demand in the United States, the world's largest consumer of energy, traders said.
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