WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices drifted lower on Wednesday after official data showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose more than expected in the week ended November 1st. The dollar's rise following Donald Trump's victory in the Presidential Election weighed as well on oil prices.
The dollar index climbed to 105.44 this morning, and despite easing to 105.00, remains firm with a strong gain of more than 1.5%.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December closed down $0.30 or about 0.42% at $71.69 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.47 or 0.63% at $75.06 a barrel a little while ago.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil inventories climbed by 2.1 million barrels last week, after edging down by 0.5 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected crude oil inventories to rise by 1.8 million barrels.
At 427.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year, the EIA said.
The EIA said gasoline inventories also edged up by 0.4 million barrels last week but are about 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Distillate fuel inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, also increased by 2.9 million barrels last week but are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Last week's OPEC+'s decision to delay increasing their output by a month helped limit the downside in oil prices.
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