Oil Down 2% as Record US Stockpiles Heighten Glut Worry

NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell 2 percent on Thursday, as the market took a closer look at U.S. government data that showed growing inventories of gasoline and other oil products pushed total petroleum supplies in the No. 1 oil consumer to record highs.

In the previous session, Brent and U.S. crude futures rose by up to 1 percent after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories dropped 2.3 million barrels last week, versus forecasts for a 2.1 million-barrel decline. It was the ninth straight weekly draw.

Still, U.S. crude inventories are at a historically high 519.5 million barrels for this time of year, the EIA said. Also, total U.S. crude and oil product stocks rose 2.62 million barrels to an all-time high of 2.08 billion barrels as gasoline stocks posted a surprise build of 911,000 barrels during summer driving season.

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