Oil falls on concerns about high supply

U.S. crude oil price fell on Tuesday as investors concerned about the domestic high supply.

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, will report its weekly survey on crude and oil product supplies at 4:30 p.m. EST. The U.S. Department of Energy is due to report its own more closely watched survey Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST.

As U.S. crude inventories have risen for four weeks, the investors are expecting another rise for last week.

The Commerce Department said retail sales rose in January, but it was the smallest increase since June and only half what analysts expected. This was translated into that consumers may be pulling back on spending because of high energy prices.

Oil previously traded higher on worries that the regional unrest in the Middle East. Since Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned last week, protests in recent days have spread to Iran, Bahrain and Algeria, which may cause disruption of crude supply.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery dropped 49 cents to 84.32 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Source:Xinhua