Oil prices traded slightly lower after the U.S. government today reported a large rise in oil stockpiles for last week.
The U.S. government’s Energery Information Agency said oil stockpiles grew by 5.62 million barrels last week.
The U.S government said gasoline supplies grew by 800,000 barrels to 211.9 million barrels, while supplies of distillates, such as home heating oil, slipped 100,000 barrels to 105.7 million barrels.
Refinery utilization eased to 85% of capacity from 85.4% a week earlier.
Following the announcement, oil for June initially traded down more than US$1 before erasing much of the loss. Shortly after 11:00 ET, oil was down 20¢ at US$121.64 a barrel.
On Tuesday, oil hit a new intraday high of US$122.73, driven up by supply worries and the belief in some corners that the U.S. economy may be spared a sharp downturn.
Oil price slips in wake of U.S. supply data
IE Staff