WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures settled sharply lower on Wednesday after data showed a significant jump in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended October 29th.
Reports saying new locally transmitted coronavirus cases in Chine spiked to a near three-month high and a warning by Premier Li Kequiang about a downward pressure on the economy weighed as well on oil prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down by $2.74 or about 3.3% at $81.17 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $3.08 or 3.65% at $81.64 a barrel a little while ago.
Data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. increased by 3.3 million barrels to 434.1 million barrels last week, rising by more than twice the expected level.
Oil stored at Cushing, the delivery point for U.S. stocks, fell by 916,000 barrels from the previous week, to 26.4 million barrels, the EIA said in its weekly report.
The EIA report also said crude oil production in the U.S. increased by 200,000 barrels a day last week to 11.5 million barrels a day.
Gasoline stockpiles declined by 1.5 million barrels last week, while distillate stocks climbed by 2.2 million barrels in the week.s week.
The American Petroleum Institute had reported late Tuesday that crude oil inventories increased by 3.6 million barrels last week, more than two times the expected increase of 1.6 million barrels.
Traders also looked ahead to the OPEC+ meeting on Thursday. The alliance is expected to stick to the gradual, monthly production increases of 400,000 barrels per day.
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