Oil dips

Tokyo : Oil prices fell on Wednesday on news of a rise in U.S. crude inventories last week, defying analyst expectations for a big fall, while concerns about weak demand growth also resurfaced.

Brent futures were down 43 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $71.73 a barrel by 0335 GMT, wiping out a 32 cent gain on Tuesday when the benchmark hit a three-month low.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 50 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $67.58, not far off Tuesday´s one-month low at $67.03 a barrel.

Crude had steadied after big declines on Monday and last week as supply disruptions in Venezuela came to the fore, while analysts forecast a decline of 3.6 million barrels in U.S. inventories for the week through July 13.

However, the spectre of oversupply quickly returned when the American Petroleum Institute reported a rise of more than 600,000 barrels late on Tuesday.