Investing.com - Oil prices sank to the lowest levels of the session in North American trading on Wednesday, extending overnight losses after data showed that U.S. crude supplies fell less than forecast last week, underlining worries over a global supply glut.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude July contract was at $45.76 a barrel by 10:35AM ET (1435GMT), down 70 cents, or around 1.5%. Prices were at around $46.30 prior to the release of the inventory data.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for August delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London shed 70 cents to $48.02 a barrel.
Oil prices tallied a gain for a third-straight session Tuesday.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels in the week ended June 9.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock decline of around 2.8 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-gain of about 2.7 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 1.2 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 511.5 million barrels as of last week, which the EIA considered to be at the upper half of the average range for this time of year.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels, disappointing expectations for a decline of 457,000 barrels.
For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a rise of 328,000 barrels.
Oil prices have been under pressure in recent weeks as concern over rising U.S. shale output offset production cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC members.
The International Energy Agency said Wednesday that the world’s oil oversupply will remain in place through 2017, as efforts led by OPEC to restrain petroleum production have hit a wall in the U.S.
The IEA also said the global levels of stored oil, viewed as a proxy for the global oversupply, grew by 18.6 million barrels in April in industrialized nations.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for July inched down 0.9 cents, or about 0.7%, to $1.475 a gallon, while July heating oil dipped 0.4 cents to $1.443 a gallon.
Natural gas futures for July delivery tacked on 1.1 cents to $2.978 per million British thermal units.