Oil futures settled lower on Wednesday after a U.S. government report revealed a larger-than-expected weekly increase in crude inventories, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, October West Texas Intermediate crude slipped $1.65, or 3.6%, to settle at $44.70 a barrel. The settlement was the lowest since August 12. For the month, prices saw a gain of roughly 7.5% — the largest since April.
On London’s ICE Futures Exchange, October Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell $1.33, or 2.8%, to end trading at $47.04 a barrel. The October futures contracts expired at the day’s settlement. The new front month contract for November ended at $46.89 a barrel. For the month, Brent crude saw a monthly rise of over 10%.
Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week ending August 26. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expected an increase of 600,000 barrels. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported an increase of 942,000 barrels.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, October natural gas ended at $2.887 per million British thermal units, up 6 cents, or 2.1%. For the month, it was up 0.4%.