WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in crude oil inventories in the U.S. in the week ended August 23rd.
The dollar's rebound weighed as well on oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down $1.01 or about 1.34% at $74.52 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.99 or 1.26% at $77.67 a barrel a little while ago.
Data from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories edged down by 0.8 million barrels last week after tumbling by 4.6 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 3.0 million barrels.
At 425.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4 percent below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA added.
The report also said gasoline inventories fell by 2.2 million barrels last week and are about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, crept up by 0.3 million barrels last week but are about 10% below the five-year average for this time of year.
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