WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil futures ended sharply lower on Thursday despite data showing a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended May 24th, as a jump in gasoline inventories weighed on oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $1.32 or about 1.7% at $77.91 a barrel.
Brent crude futures fell 2.1% to $81.86 a barrel.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude oil inventories slumped by 4.2 million barrels last week after climbing by 1.8 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 1.9 million barrels.
With the sharp pullback, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
Meanwhile, gasoline inventories increased by 2.0 million barrels last week but remain about 1% below the five-year average for this time of year. Gasoline stocks rose as demand fell by 166,000 barrels per day in the runup to the Memorial Day holiday.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also climbed by 2.5 million barrels last week but remain about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Investors now await the meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, collectively known as OPEC+, this Sunday. The group is widely expected to extend its production cuts beyond the second quarter.
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