Oil sinks toward $60 as inventory, production gains weigh

West Texas Intermediate slipped as much as 1%, giving up earlier gains. Nationwide stockpiles rose 5.02 MMbbl last week, their third consecutive increase. Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for U.S. futures, rose for the first time in 12 weeks. Gasoline futures surged 1% as stockpiles sank the most since September.

Crude has struggled since hitting a three-year high in January. A broader market slump initially drove prices lower, while surging American production and increasing inventories remain a challenge. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries acknowledged the scale of the shale boom, forecasting for the first time that supply growth from rivals will outstrip the increase in demand this year.

West Texas Intermediate for April delivery was 32 cents lower at $60.39/bbl at 11:31 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The discount of April contracts to May slipped to 7 cents as growing supply weighed on the value of oil for prompt delivery.

Brent for May settlement fell 23 cents to $64.41/bbl on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, and traded at a $3.90 premium to WTI for the same month.