Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil turned lower in North American trade on Wednesday, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. registered an unexpected inventory build.
Crude oil for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 37 cents, or 0.6%, to trade at $67.33 a barrel by 10:32AM ET (14:32GMT) compared to $67.81 ahead of the report.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 2.170 million barrels in the week ended April 20. Market analysts' had expected a crude-stock draw of 1.600 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a build of just 1.099 million.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 0.459 million barrels last week, the EIA said. Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 427.9 million barrels as of last week, according to press release, which the EIA considered to be “in the lower half of the average range for this time of year”.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories unexpectedly increased by 0.840 million barrels, compared to expectations for a draw of 0.625 million barrels, although distillate stockpiles fell by 2.611 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a decline of just 0.861 million.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for June delivery fell 0.5% to $73.51 by 10:38AM ET (14:38GMT), compared to $73.77 before the release.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the WTI crude contract stood at $6.04 a barrel by 10:38AM ET (14:38GMT), compared to a gap of $6.16 by close of trade on Tuesday.
Oil prices settled sharply lower on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to try to resolve differences on Iran, easing concerns that the United States might reinstate sanctions against Tehran.
That forced some traders to abandon their bullish bets on new U.S. sanctions against Iran limiting the country’s oil output.
The Trump administration has until May 12 to decide whether it will extend the sanctions waiver linked to Iran’s nuclear deal.
Yet, underlying sentiment in the oil market remained positive amid ongoing investor expectations that OPEC-led supply cuts would continue to rid the market of excess supplies.
Geopolitical tension in the Middle East and concerns about supply disruptions in key oil-producing nations have also added to the bullish environment.
But a rise in U.S. drilling for new production had been one of the few factors putting downward pressure on crude in an otherwise positive sentiment.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for May delivery fell 2.0 cents to $2.0735 a gallon by 10:40AM ET (14:40GMT), while May contract for heating oil lost 0.5 cents to $2.1224 a gallon.