Oil price weakensas glut grows

Oil is poised for the lowest quarterly average price since the start of 2009 as industry data showed US crude stockpiles increased and Opec’s second-largest producer boosted output.

US oil inventories rose by 4.6m barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute reported yesterday, while Iraq boosted crude output 17% this month compared with a year earlier, oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said.

Oil has plunged more than a quarter from this year’s closing peak in June amid speculation a global glut will be prolonged.