(RTTNews) - After seeing some strength earlier in the session, the price of oil has turned lower over the course of morning trading on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration released a report showing that crude oil inventories increased by more than expected last week.
The report showed that crude oil inventories in the week ended November 14th increased by 1.6 million barrels compared to analyst estimates of an increase of about 1.0 million barrels.
With the increase, crude oil inventories rose for the eighth consecutive week, although the increases seen in the two previous weeks were relatively modest.
Crude oil inventories have risen to 313.5 million barrels and are now in the upper half of the average range for this time of year.
The EIA, the statistical arm of the Energy Department, also said that gasoline inventories increased by 0.5 million barrels, although they remain near the lower boundary of the average range.
At the same time, the report showed that inventories of distillate fuels, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.5 million barrels. Distillate fuel inventories subsequently remain in the lower half of the average range for this time of year.
Refineries operated at 84.9 percent of their operable capacity last week, the EIA added, representing a 0.3 percentage point increase compared to the previous week.
As mentioned above, the price of oil has turned lower following the release of the report, with crude for December delivery currently down $0.52 at $53.87 a barrel after reaching a high of $55.34 a barrel earlier in the trading day.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.