Oil Prices Cut Losses After U.S. Crude Stocks Rise Less Than Forecast

Investing.com – Crude prices bounced off the worst levels of the session on Wednesday, after data showed that U.S. oil stockpiles rose less than forecast last week.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 47 cents, or 0.7%, to $62.13 a barrel by 10:34AM ET (1534GMT). Prices were at around $61.85 prior to the release of the inventory data.

Meanwhile, London-traded futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., shed 51 cents, or roughly 0.8%, to $65.32 a barrel.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories increased by in the week ended March 2.

That compared with analysts’ expectations for a gain of around 2.7 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-increase of 5.7 million barrels.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, declined by last week, the EIA said.

Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 425.9 million barrels as of last week, which the EIA considered to be in the lower half of the average range for this time of year.

U.S. crude oil production rose by 0.4% from the previous week to a fresh all-time high of 10.36 million barrels per day, keeping it above Saudi Arabia’s output levels and within reach of Russia, the world’s biggest crude producer.

Analysts and traders have recently warned that booming U.S. shale oil production could potentially derail OPEC’s effort to end a supply glut.

The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by , compared to expectations for a decline of 1.2 million barrels. For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a drop of .

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