Oil fell to near $81 a barrel today after a report showed US crude inventories surged.

For May delivery, US crude dropped 58 cents to $81.33 a barrel at 04.52GMT, while London ICE Brent declined 48 cents to $80.22, reports Reuters.

An American Petroleum Institute report showed that US crude stockpiles jumped 7.5 million barrels the week ending 19 March, while supplies of distillates fell 2.5 million barrels and gasoline stocks were little changed.

US crude stockpiles continue to expand due to growing imports as OPEC exceeds output targets.

OPEC ministers last week agreed to leave production targets unchanged due to increasing demand growth in the second half and continued economic uncertainty.