NYMEX April crude closed lower Thursday as growing US crude stockpiles highlighted the oil market’s surplus, dragging the front-month contract further below ICE Brent. In the last 30 minutes before the market’s close, NYMEX April crude dropped $3 to $47.99/b, before settling $2.82 lower at $48.17/b. In refined product action, NYMEX March ULSD closed 3.22 cents higher at $2.1358/gal. NYMEX March RBOB ended down 1.11 cents at $1.7076/gal. Front-month NYMEX crude came under selling pressure Thursday in the aftermath of Wednesday’s US crude inventory report, which showed stockpiles rising 8.4 million barrels last week, analysts said. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma — delivery point for the NYMEX futures contract — increased 2.4 million barrels last week. “The huge oversupply in the US, especially in the Gulf Coast and Cushing, is depressing WTI values,” Energy Aspects oil analyst Dominick Haywood said. The front-month ICE Brent-WTI […]