Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil remained lower in North American trade on Wednesday, as data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. unexpectedly rose.
Crude oil futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange were lower following the report, down 0.3% at $72.06 a barrel by 10:53 AM ET (14:53 GMT).
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 1.852 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 21. Market analysts had expected a crude-stock decline of 1.279 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday reported an increase of 2.903 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 461,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 396 million barrels as of last week, according to a press release, which the EIA said was “2% below the five year average for this time of year.”
The report also showed that gasoline inventories rose by 1.530 million barrels, compared to expectations for an increase of 788,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 2.241 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a rise of 752,000.
Prices of oil have been driven higher in the past few weeks as upcoming U.S. sanctions against Iran weighed on investors and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) failed to increase supply production to counter the impact of the sanctions on output.
U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the group of oil producers to put a lid on rising prices, reiterating calls in a speech at the U.N. for OPEC to pump more oil. He also said Iran was sowing chaos and said he would impose more sanctions on the oil rich country.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil fell 0.09% to $81.19 while gasoline futures increased 0.05% to $2.0500 a gallon and heating oil gained 0.05% to $2.3108 a gallon.