Oil Prices Slip Further Following Surprise U.S. Crude Build

Investing.com – Crude oil prices edged lower on Thursday, after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed domestic crude stockpiles increased for the first time in five weeks.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dipped 20 cents, or around 0.4%, at $51.98 a barrel by 3:15AM ET (0715GMT), after losing 29 cents, or 0.6%, a day earlier.

Meanwhile, futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., shed 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $58.34 a barrel.

Oil prices , pressured by an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories and as oil output and exports from the United States rose last week.

Crude oil inventories rose by , according to the EIA, marking the first increase in five weeks. That compared with analysts’ expectations for a decline of 2.6 million barrels.

The report also showed that domestic production rebounded by 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 9.5 million and net imports rose by just over 500,000 bpd, after the falloff due to Hurricane Nate the week before.

Prices remained supported by comments from Saudi Arabia’s energy minister on Tuesday reiterating its determination to end a global supply glut and as geopolitical turmoil threatened global inventories.

In other energy trading Thursday, held steady at $1.731 a gallon, while slipped 0.4 cents to $1.814 a gallon.

Gasoline inventories fell by last week, much more than expectations for a decline of 17,000 barrels. For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a decline of .

rose 0.6 cents to $2.925 per million British thermal units, as traders looked ahead to due later in the global day.

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