Crude oil futures edged down Thursday in London trading, as high U.S. inventory data suggests markets are well supplied, demand remains low, and the price continues to slide after a rally last week. At 0807 GMT, the front-month contract for June Brent on London's ICE futures exchange was down 54 cents, or 0.50%, at $103.80 a barrel. The front-month light, sweet crude contract for June on the New York Mercantile Exchange is trading down 42 cents, or 0.43%, at $96.20 a barrel. "WTI [West Texas Intermediate] is just below the highs we've seen this year, and I don't see much upside on that unless there is a significant improvement in U.S. economic data," said Michael Hewson, Senior Market Analyst at CMC Markets. "As for Brent, apart from our old friends in Germany, what is there to be positive about in Europe from a demand perspective?," he said. Looking to the next month, Mr. Hewson said that Brent was unlikely to head above $106-$108 a barrel, with WTI unlikely to rise above $100 a barrel. The spread between Brent and WTI has narrowed again, to its closest point since December 2011, and is trading at $7.66. "Of course, the big news was all the chatter of "large volume" unwinding the Brent/WTI spread," said the Schork Report, in response to the market's reaction to U.S. inventory data Wednesday, when U.S. crude stocks were reported by the Energy Information Administration. U.S. oil stockpiles rose less than expected, though they did set a fresh 32-year high. "Total commercial crude oil stocks are still at the second-highest level in the post WW2 era. The only other time when inventory was higher, was April 1981 at 397.5 million barrels," the Schork report said. At 0810 GMT, the ICE's gasoil contract for May delivery was down $1.50, or 0.17%, at $865.25 a metric ton, while Nymex gasoline for June delivery was down 45 points, or 0.16%, at $2.8493 per gallon.

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