Crude oil tumbled towards $40 per barrel on Friday morning.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures in New York fell to as low as $40.47 a share, a drop of more than 3% to the lowest level in about two and a half months.
Crude oil is extending a decline that worsened after data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday showed that US inventories rose for a seventh straight period last week.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) monthly report warned on Friday that with a record 3 billion barrels of oil in stockpiles, the “overhang” that first developed in the US is spreading across the world.
