U.S. crude falls below $75

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6142V820100513

Oil prices were mixed on Thursday, with the benchmark U.S. crude contract pressured below $75 a barrel by record stockpiles in the U.S. Midwest, while London-Brent crude held above $81 a barrel.

The two-main benchmark contracts have diverged significantly over the past week. Rising global energy demand and hopes Europe's debt crisis can be tackled have seen Brent rise for four straight days, while U.S. crude prices have been falling since Tuesday.

Stockpiles of crude at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for the U.S. contract, have risen for the last eight weeks to stand at a record 37 million barrels, pushing U.S. crude to its steepest discount to Brent since the peak of the economic crisis.

At 1022 GMT (6:22 a.m. EDT) on Thursday, U.S. crude oil for delivery in June was trading down 71 cents at $74.94 a barrel, while Brent was trading up 1 cent at $81.21 a barrel.

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[Scuba]

1. Public Relations move

[Statistical]

2. Woot. Now I can go out and buy that gas guzzler says Joe Sixpack. n/t