Brent crude drops 1.7% to $62.59

NEW YORK: Oil prices slumped, with US crude headed for its sharpest daily loss since late May, after the first rise in crude stockpiles in the US in more than two months.
The dollar’s rally on Greece’s debt default, Iran’s renewed efforts to reach a nuclear deal with the West to freely resume its crude exports, and signs of OPEC output at three-year highs, further weighed on the market.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels last week, the first weekly build since April and versus a 2 million-barrel draw forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll on Tuesday.
The EIA also said gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.8 million barrels, indicating strong demand for fuels from the peak US summer driving season, even as crude inventories rose.
“The gasoline draw implies demand has picked up. But the overall feel is that we have more than enough crude and the market could be in a bearish tilt hereon with the Greece and Iran factors in play,” said Tariq Zahir, oil trader and managing member at Tyche Capital Advisers in Laurel Hollow, New York.
Brent crude was down $1, or 1.7 percent, at $62.59 a barrel by 11:40 a.m. EDT (1540 GMT).
US crude fell $1.86, or 3 percent, to $57.61. The last time slid as much in a day was on May 19.