Oil prices fell in Asian trading hours after news of a surge in US crude stockpiles eased concerns over a supply crunch, dealers said. At 12.50 pm (0450 GMT) here, New York's benchmark July contract for light sweet crude was trading at 53.56 usd a barrel, down 0.07 usd from its close of 53.63 usd in New York overnight. World oil prices had dipped nearly 1.00 usd overnight after official US data showed a larger-than-expected jump in US crude inventories. Victor Shum, an analyst here with US energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz, said the latest price falls are a signal there are adequate crude supplies to cope with market demand. "Supply is plentiful. Some market participants are asking: 'Where's the shortage?'" said Shum, adding that crude stocks are now at their highest levels since July 1999. The US Department of Energy (DoE) said that crude oil inventories increased by 1.4 mln barrels to 333.8 mln in the week ending May 27, following a surprise drop of 1.6 mln barrels the previous week. The DoE data also showed gasoline stockpiles rising 1.3 mln barrels to 216.7 mln, while distillates were up 700,000 barrels to 106.4 mln on a weekly basis. Demand for gasoline, meanwhile, rose to 9.5 mln barrels per day in the US last week, even before the start of the US summer vacation driving season, which began Monday.