LONDON, Feb 12: The price of New York crude oil fell toward $35 a barrel on Thursday in a market plagued by weak energy demand reflected in new US data that showed surging crude stockpiles.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, dropped 87 cents to $35.07 a barrel. The contract is nearing five-year lows of $32.20 hit on December 18.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for March delivery rose 22 cents to $44.50 per barrel.

In earlier trade, the price differential between New York crude and London Brent oil hit a record $9 in a move attributed by analysts to speculative trading and high US stock levels.

“Rising inventory levels indicate that supplies are still outweighing demand,” said Standard Chartered analyst Helen Henton.

“US crude and product stocks have risen sharply so far this year. Outside of the US, inventory data is much less timely and more patchy, but stocks are generally high,” she added.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) said in its weekly report on Wednesday that American crude stockpiles soared by 4.7 million barrels in the week ending February 6. That beat market expectations of a 3.0-million-barrel gain.—AFP