Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures extended losses on Wednesday, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. rose more than expected last week, underlining concerns over weak demand.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to an intraday low of $44.88 a barrel, the weakest level since October 2, before trading at $44.98 during U.S. morning hours, down $1.31, or 2.8%. Prices were at around $45.17 prior to the release of the inventory data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 8.0 million barrels in the week ended October 16.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock rise of 3.9 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported an increase of 7.1 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 476.6 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 gasoline inventories decreased by 1.5 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decline of 0.9 million barrels.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for December delivery shed 95 cents, or 1.94%, to trade at $47.76 a barrel.
A meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil market experts in Vienna later in the day may shed further light on the group's position of maintaining production at current levels as prices remain muted.
The cartel invited eight non-member countries, including Russia, for talks on the market. OPEC's own meeting to set policy is not until December 4.
The oil market has been volatile in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. Despite this tighter outlook for North America, output remains robust in other countries.
According to industry research group Baker Hughes (N:BHI), the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. decreased by 10 last week to 595, the seventh straight weekly decline. Over the prior six weeks, drillers had cut 70 rigs.
However, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf OPEC members have indicated in recent months that they will continue to stick to their policy of defending market share by keeping production high.
Oil prices have lost nearly 60% since last summer as lingering concerns over a glut in world markets drove down prices.
Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $2.78 a barrel, compared to $2.42 by close of trade on Tuesday.