Oil futures turned lower Wednesday after government data showed U.S. crude and gasoline inventories unexpectedly rose last week. The Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude supplies were up 4.5 million barrels in the week ended July 29, while gasoline supplies rose 200,000 barrels. Distillate supplies fell, dropping 2.4 million barrels, according to the agency. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights, on average, had looked for a 1.7 million barrel drop in crude supplies, while gasoline stocks were expected to fall 1.5 million barrels and distillates were seen down 500,000 barrels. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday had reported a 2.2 million barrel rise in crude stocks and a 204,000 barrel drop in gasoline inventories, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Oil futures were lifted earlier in the session after OPEC+ agreed on a largely symbolic 100,000-barrel increase in production in September. In recent action, West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery
CL.1,
CL00,
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fell $1.61, or 1.7%, to $92.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
