Investing.com - Crude oil priced dropped in Asia on Wednesday on bearish U.S. industry data on stocks.
The American Petroleum Institute said crude oil stocks rose 2.3 million barrels in the U.S. last week, well above a drop of 1.9 million barrels seen. Figures for refined products were not immediately available.
Separately, Wednesday's government report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) could show that U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 2.2 million barrels for the week ending on July 17.
Last week, U.S. crude inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels for the week ending on July 10. Analysts had expected a draw of 1.2 million barrels for the week. U.S. crude stockpiles remain at 461.4 million barrels, one of the highest levels at this time of year in at least 80 years. The level is nearly 100 million barrels higher than last year at this time.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, WTI for September delivery dropped 0.51% to $50.60 a barrel.
Overnight, crude futures rallied slightly amid a sharply lower dollar, ahead of the release of the American Petroleum Institute weekly inventory report on Tuesday afternoon after the bell.
On the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Brent crude for September delivery wavered between $56.34 and $57.44 a barrel before settling at $57.08, up 0.43 or 0.78% on Tuesday.
Opec triggered a protracted battle for global market share last November by keeping its production ceiling above 30 million barrels per day. While the world's largest oil cartel reportedly employed the strategy in an effort to undercut U.S. shale producers, U.S. crude output has remained near record-highs over the last several months. Although the EIA said last week that production fell slightly to 9.562 million barrels per day it is still more than 1.1 million bpd higher than the average level from July, 2014.
On Monday, WTI crude futures dipped to 15-week lows after the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved last week's accord between Iran and a group of Western powers on a comprehensive nuclear deal. Brent futures, meanwhile, fell below $56.50 dropping to its lowest level in nearly two weeks. The lifting of longstanding, severe economic sanctions against Iran could allow the Gulf state to double its export level to approximately 2 million bpd over the next year.