World oil prices fell again on Wednesday after weekly US oil storage figures showed tanks in the consuming powerhouse filled to well above year-ago levels.
Benchmark North Sea Brent blend crude oil was down 29 cents at $17.90 a barrel at 1217GMT. This was well below the average of $19.50 seen so far this year but above a low of $17.35 from the summer.
The American Petroleum Institute data released late on Tuesday showed US crude stocks rose 4.32 million barrels last week, to 322 million barrels. Traders had expected crude stocks to fall.
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"Overall crude inventories are now over 20 million barrels above year ago, so there is some cause for concern in the medium term," said brokers GNI in a market report.
Wednesday's drop deepened a sharp fall sparked by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) decision on Saturday to increase its output ceiling by 10 per cent.
Prices fell sharply on Monday in reaction to OPEC's decision to raise the ceiling to 27.5 million barrels per day (bpd) next year, from a long-ignored 25.033 million bpd.
The deal was the 11-member group's first major increase for four years and analysts expected actual Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Country output to rise quickly toward 28.5 million bpd as producers overshot their individual quotas.
There had been signs on Tuesday of prices stabilising as traders continued to expect a delay in renewing Iraq's 'oil-for-food' deal with the United Nations
Iraq is currently permitted to export $2 billion worth of crude every six months to pay for food and medicine.
The current deal was expected to be renewed on Thursday at the same rate of $2 billion but the Security Council has indicated it would consider an increase in the future, pending a review by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
But Iraq appeared likely to delay pumping oil until a plan for distributing aid is agreed.