Crude oil futures finished lower on Wednesday as traders remained concerned about the buildup of U.S. oil supplies, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July West Texas Intermediate crude slid 48 cents, or 1%, to end trading at $48.01 a barrel, marking a fifth consecutive decline. Earlier in the day, WTI crude futures fell below $48 a barrel but rose on the news from the U.S. Energy Information Administration which reported U.S. oil inventories declined by 900,000 barrels for the week ending June 10. The EIA report contrasted sharply with the American Petroleum Institute report issued on Tuesday which reported a 1.2 million barrel increase.
On the London ICE Futures Exchange, August Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 86 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $48.97 a barrel.
Meanwhile, July natural gas ended lower by almost a penny at $2.595 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.