Oil falls 2% despite low US inventories

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices fell today, Aug. 2, amid assessment of sharp decline in US inventories.

US oil inventories fell by 17 million barrels in the week ended July 28, compared to estimates of 71.3 million barrels, nearly 1% below the five-year averages, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API).

US crude exports rose to 5.3 million barrels per day (bpd), while the US crude oil production stabilized at 12.2 bpd.

OPEC production fell by 900,000 bpd in July to an average of 27.79 million bpd, with Saudi Arabia pumping an average of 9.15 million bpd, a Bloomberg survey showed.

Rating agency Fitch on Tuesday downgraded the U.S. government's top credit rating, a move that drew an angry response from the White House and surprised investors, coming despite the resolution of the debt ceiling crisis two months ago, Reuters reported.

Brent crude for October delivery fell 2%, or $1.71, to close at $83.20 a barrel.

WTI contracts for September delivery also declined 2.3%, or $1.88, to $79.49 a barrel.