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Singapore - Crude fell in Asian trade on Wednesday as investors weighed in the impact of a jump in US oil stockpiles, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, fell 15 cents to $104.64 per barrel in the afternoon while Brent North Sea crude for May dipped 12c to $115.04.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) said Tuesday US inventories rose 5.7 million barrels last week, with the increase seen as an indication of sluggish demand in the the world's biggest oil consumer.
The unrest in Libya and the region along with a weekly US Department of Energy inventory report due later Wednesday will be keenly watched by traders, Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst for Phillip Futures in Singapore, said.
At an international summit on Libya in London on Tuesday, British Foreign Minister William Hague said Qatar had agreed to arrange the sale of Libyan oil.
However, Commerzbank analysts said "hopes of Libyan oil shipments normalising soon are exaggerated".
They noted the security situation in the North African country remained tense, "which is making it difficult for oil workers to return to production sites."
Oil-rich Libya was producing 1.69 million barrels a day before the unrest, according to the International Energy Agency. It is now producing 400 000 barrels a day.
