Crude oil futures fell on Wednesday as data from the Energy Information Administration revealed the largest uptick in domestic supply inventories since 1982, according to a Bloomberg MarketWatch report.
March West Texas Intermediate crude edged down by 9 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $53.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
On London’s ICE Futures Exchange, April Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 22 cents, or 0.4%, to end trading at $55.75 a barrel.
On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration indicated domestic crude oil inventories climbed by 9.5 million barrels to total 518.1 million barrels for the week ending February 10.
That is a record weekly level, based on EIA data going back to 1982. The previous record was at roughly 512.1 million barrels for the week ending April 29, 2016.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported a 9.9 million-barrel rise, well above the increase of 3.25 million barrels forecast by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts.
Meanwhile, March natural gas finished up 2 cents, or 0.7%, to end trading at $2.925 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after posting declines in each of the last three sessions.