Oil prices fell on Thursday as a growing glut of crude starts to strain storage options for traders, with supply from Opec and other producers still outstripping demand. The US oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate dropped as much as 5.1 per cent to a fresh 12-year low of $26.05 a barrel, following reports of a further rise in crude stocks at its delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma. Stocks at the oil hub, known as the pipeline crossroads of the world, reached a record high last week approaching 65m barrels and close to 90 percent of its capacity. Industry monitor Genscape, which analyses storage tank levels through flyovers and infrared monitoring of pipelines, said on Thursday that initial signs were for a further rise in stocks this week. The rise in crude stocks at Cushing is weighing particularly heavily on WTI for delivery next month. The March WTI contract’s discount or spread to April has widened to more than $2.50 — the highest front-month discount in five years. Traders said the front-month discount may widen further to either encourage refiners to buy more crude in the coming months or to cover higher storage costs, with tank space becoming harder to find. “Any further increase in crude oil stocks will probably put additional downward pressure on the spread,” said Tamas Varga at PVM Associates in London.