HOUSTON, June 25 -- Oil price fell for a fifth week in the United Statesafter slipping into a bear market on concern that rising production from the U.S. to Libya will offset cuts from OPEC and its allies.
Oil in New York and London market tumbled into a bear market this week on concerns that expanding global supply will counter reductions from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners including Russia.
Shale drillers added oil rigs for a record 23rd straight week as a growing backlog of unfinished wells -- and the crude that will eventually flow from those projects -- threatens to add to the global glut.
West Texas Intermediate for August delivery settled at 43.01 U.S. dollars a barrel, up 27 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen 21 percent from their peak in February. A bear market is defined as at least a 20-percent drop.
U.S. oil production rose by 20,000 barrels a day last week to 9.35 million, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. While crude stockpiles slid by 2.45 million barrels to 509.1 million, inventories remain about 100 million barrels above the five-year average.
