Oil dips below the $71 mark

LONDON: Oil fell more than $1 to below $71 per barrel yesterday, paring three days of gains as expectations for a rise in US crude inventories offset optimism over positive US and Chinese manufacturing data.

US light, sweet crude fell $1.05 to $70.53 a barrel by 1107 GMT, after having fallen earlier by as much as $1.30. ICE Brent crude fell 80 cents to $72.75 a barrel.

Analysts said yesterday price drop looked more like a pause for breath than a serious market reversal but suggested that weak fundamentals, with an abundance of supply in the United States and not much demand seen to mop it up, could win out.