Oil futures dropped on Thursday after several reports revealed data that showed a rise in domestic crude oil inventories, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 29 cents, or 0.6%, to end at $53.77 a barrel. The contract traded as high as $54.21 a barrel immediately after the Energy Information Administration reported that crude supplies rose 600,000 barrels last week.
Late Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a 4.2-million-barrel rise in crude oil inventories. Analysts with The Wall Street Journal anticipated a drop of 1.4 million barrels.
Despite the reported supply discrepancies, WTI is on track to end the year with a gain of more than 45%.
February Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 8 cents, or 0.1%, to end trading at $56.14 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.
“We estimate that, based on an improved crude price outlook, shale gas and oil drilling will pick up again,” said consultancy JBC Energy in a research note.
Meanwhile, February natural gas futures dropped 2.5% to settle at $3.802 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange.