Investing.com – Crude futures settled lower on Wednesday, after the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report showed a faster rise than expected in U.S. crude inventories.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for April delivery fell 20 cents to settle at $48.04 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 31 cents to settle at 50.65 a barrel.
Oil prices trended lower in early morning U.S. trade, as fears of U.S. oversupply came to the fore, following the release of bearish crude inventories data.
For the week ending March 15, The EIA said that crude oil inventories rose by 5 million barrels to 533.1 million barrels compared to estimates of an increase of only 2.8 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories dipped by 2.811 million against expectations for a draw of 2.008 million barrels while distillate stockpiles fell by 1.910 million barrels, compared to expectations of a 1.386 million decline.
Crude futures have slid for a third straight day, as fears grew that a ramp up in U.S. crude and shale oil production may dampened OPEC’s efforts to rebalance supply and demand in the industry.
In November last year, OPEC and other producers, including Russia agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in an effort to combat the oversupply issue that has pressured prices over the last two years.
Meanwhile, market participants turn attention to Baker Hughes rig count, due to be released on Friday at 13:00 EDT.