Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures extended losses on Wednesday, following the release of disappointing weekly data on U.S. oil inventories.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for August delivery slumped 79 cents, or 1.49%, to trade at $52.25 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. Prices were at around $52.39 prior to the release of the inventory data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels in the week ended July 10. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock fall of 1.2 million, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a decline of 7.3 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 438,000 barrels last week, following a gain of 299,000 barrels a week earlier.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 461.4 million barrels as of last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories rose by 0.1 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles increased by 3.8 million barrels.
Energy traders have been paying close attention to gasoline stockpiles in recent weeks as the U.S. driving season entered its peak gasoline demand period.
New York-traded oil futures have been under heavy pressure in recent weeks as worries over high domestic U.S. oil production weighed.
According to industry research group Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by five last week to 645, marking the second straight week of gains after 29 weeks of declines.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for September delivery declined 83 cents, or 1.4%, to trade at $57.85 a barrel.
The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $5.60 a barrel, compared to $5.64 by close of trade on Tuesday.
Oil traders assessed the impact of Tuesday's Iranian nuclear deal. Prices initially tumbled by more than 2% as Iran and six world powers reached a long-awaited nuclear deal that would end sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on the country's disputed nuclear program.
However, prices recovered towards the end of the session, with analysts largely estimating that Iranian crude exports could take several months to ramp up significantly.