FILE PHOTO: A pump jack operates in the Permian Basin oil production area near Wink, Texas U.S. August 22, 2018. Picture taken August 22, 2018. REUTERS/Nick OxfordLONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Thursday, heading back towards their lowest levels for more than a year on worries about oversupply and the outlook for energy demand as stock markets tumbled following a U.S. interest rate rise.Stock markets dropped worldwide after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates and kept most of its guidance for additional hikes over the next two years, dashing investor hopes for a more dovish policy outlook. [MKTS/GLOB]U.S. light crude oil CLc1 fell $1.61 a barrel, or 3.3 percent, to a low of $46.56 and was trading around $46.70 by 0845 GMT. [EIA/S]U.S. crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell by 497,000 barrels in the week to Dec. 14, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, smaller than the decrease of 2.4 million barrels analysts had expected.Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI, which include diesel and heating oil, dropped by 4.2 million barrels, the EIA said, versus expectations of a 573,000-barrel increase.Distillate demand rose to the highest since January 2003, which bolstered buying, particularly in heating oil futures, the market’s proxy for diesel.

Source: Egypt Today December 20, 2018 09:11 UTC