Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled lower on Wednesday as rising crude supplies and a surge in U.S. production offset data showing gasoline supplies fell more-than-expected.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for December delivery fell by 29 cents to settle at $52.18 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 17 cents to trade at $58.16 a barrel.
Crude oil prices fell for the first time in three days as concerns over a surge in US production weighed on upside momentum while a mixed report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showing crude stockpiles rose for the first time in five weeks and gasoline supplies fell more-than-expected failed to lift sentiment.
Inventories of U.S. crude rose by roughly 856,000 barrels in the week ended Oct. 20, missing expectations of a draw of 2.6m barrels.
Gasoline inventories – one of the products that crude is refined into – fell by 5.5m barrels, confounding expectations of a draw of just 17,000 barrels while supplies of distillate – the class of fuels that includes diesel and heating oil – fell by about 5.3m barrels, topping expectations of a decline of 860,000 barrels.
The larger-than-expected draw in oil products such as gasoline and heating oil follows a recovery in refinery activity after refiners scaled back operations to undergo seasonal maintenance last week.
"At the end of the day, crude oil demand is only one part of the equation. If you have strong products demand, that means refineries are going to buy more crude oil to create those products. Demand looks great,” said Michael Loewen, a commodities strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.
U.S. crude production, meanwhile, surged to 9.5m barrels per day (bpd) as daily exports of crude, diesel and other petroleum products climbed to 7.66m barrels last week, the EIA said Wednesday.