Crude at $77.30 a barrel.

US crude futures slipped towards $77 a barrel in early trade. The contract had settled $2.80 higher on Tuesday after an industry report showed a bigger than expected build in US crude oil stockpiles last week. NYMEX crude for March delivery was last quoting 7 cents up at $77.30 a barrel.

US crude inventories surged by 4.7 million barrels last week as imports rose, weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute showed late on Tuesday, much larger than a 200,000 barrel rise projected by analysts. The Energy Information Administration (EIA), a government organisation, will release its own weekly oil statistics later on Wednesday.

Source BloombergUTV