Global oil prices extended losses in Asian trade Thursday as US stalemate over debt ceiling continued to hit the black gold. WTI crude for September delivery was seen trading at $97.09 a barrel at 12.00 noon Singapore time while Brent crude for September delivery was seen trading at $117.62 a barrel in London. The black Gold was also hit by an unexpected rise in US oil stockpiles on Wednesday, analysts said. US The Energy Department said nation's commercial oil supplies grew by 2.3 million barrels to 354 million barrels last week. Gasoline supplies increased by 1 million barrels to 213.5 million barrels and distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 3.4 million barrels to 151.8 million barrels. Commercial crude supplies increased as the U.S. released about 2.3 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It's part of the 60-million barrel release announced by the International Energy Agency last month to help cover potential shortfalls in global markets resulting from the absence of Libyan oil. The U.S. will eventually release 30 million barrels from the strategic reserve as part of that. Investors are closely watching developments in the world’s largest economy as it struggled to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling to avoid a default. Many investors believe that rising crude supplies and signs of a slowing economy in the U.S. indicate fuel demand may falter in the US. Meanwhile the European benchmark contract was at a premium of $20.50 a barrel to New York futures, compared with a record close of $22.63 on July 14. On Wednesday, New York's main oil contract, WTI crude for September delivery, down $2.19 to $97.40 a barrel while London’s Brent North Sea crude for September dipped 85 cents to $117.43. In London, Brent crude fell 85 cents to settle at $117.43 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

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