Oil futures edged lower on Wednesday following a report showing a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories last week.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that U.S. crude stocks rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week to Dec. 16 as refineries hiked output, while gasoline stocks and distillate inventories fell.
It proved to be the first weekly build in crude stockpiles in five weeks. Analysts in a recent poll were expecting U.S. crude inventories to fall by 2.5 million barrels.
Brent crude oil futures fell 81 cents, or 1.5%, at $54.54 U.S. a barrel by mid-afternoon, while U.S. crude futures settled down 81 cents, or 1.5% at $52.49 U.S. a barrel.
The EIA report departed from the American Petroleum Institute industry group's data released late on Tuesday, which showed a much larger-than-expected 4.1-million-barrel crude draw. Analysts said the API report had helped carry WTI futures to a one-week high earlier in the session.
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