NEW YORK: Oil prices fell yesterday as investors sold to lock in profits from last week’s rally, which drove prices above $70 a

barrel for the first time since August.

Petrol futures also fell, as traders anticipated an increase in petrol inventories in a government report on Thursday.

“With refinery runs up, I think people are expecting some growth in product inventories this week,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc., in Winchester, Massachusetts.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 69 cents to $69.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while petrol futures for August fell 2.2 cents to $2.2208 a gallon.

August Brent crude futures were unchanged at $71.41 a

barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Nymex heating oil futures for August were off 0.44 cent at $2.038 a gallon, while natural gas prices lost 18.3 cents to $6.59 per 1,000 cubic feet. On Friday, oil prices rose to close above $70 a barrel for the first time in 10 months. Analysts attributed that rally to concerns about petrol supplies and demand for crude, and to the discovery of two unexploded bombs in London.

Analysts have long worried that the refining industry will not be able to make enough petrol to supply the nation during the summer driving season, which peaks between the 4 July and Labour Day holidays. Those concerns have been fed by the Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory reports. Last week, for instance, the EIA reported petrol inventories had dropped 700,000 barrels in the week ended 22 June, when

analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires expected a 1.1 million barrel gain. (AP)