NEW YORK, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices declined in volatile trading on Thursday as traders continued to digest the rising U.S. stockpiles and the impact of tightened U.S. ban on Iran exports.
The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell 0.68 U.S. dollar to settle at 65.21 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery was down 0.22 dollar to close at 74.35 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
Crude prices initially gained support from the news that Poland and Germany suspended imports of Russian crude via the Druzhba pipeline, the world's longest oil pipeline, due to contamination.
The energy market experienced great volatility in late session and both crude benchmarks finished lower.
Investors tended to place their trades into the settlement for profit-taking, since a hefty gain in weekly U.S. crude stockpiles triggered bearish sentiment, according to some analysts.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose 5.5 million barrels in the week ending April 19 to 460.6 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report on Wednesday.
The reading easily topped analysts' forecast of an increase of 1.3 million barrels.
Traders were also awaiting more clues whether major oil producers will increase supply in response to tougher U.S. action against Iran's oil exports.
U.S. President Donald Trump has decided not to reissue the sanctions waivers allowing major importers to continue buying Iran's oil when they expire in early May, the White House said earlier this week.
Washington's new move to squeeze Iran has raised concerns that it may lead to higher oil and gasoline prices. Enditem
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