Oil prices fell by almost $2 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed rising domestic inventories of crude-oil and gasoline.
Earlier in the day, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that while the country has been able to absorb sharp increases in oil prices, the high energy costs are beginning to stunt economic growth. The market was also reacting to reports that gunmen kidnapped five South Koreans in an overnight raid on a southern Nigeria natural-gas plant owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
Light sweet crude for July delivery fell $1.90 to $70.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where gasoline futures slid by more than 6 cents to $2.11 per gallon. July Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 43 cents to $70.38 a barrel.
