Oil futures fell on Wednesday, but U.S. prices traded above $50 U.S. a barrel after a weekly report from the U.S. government showed that crude supplies unexpectedly rose, but gasoline stockpiles fell.
Data on implied-gasoline demand over the last four weeks showed a jump compared with a year ago and growth in China’s oil demand remained strong in June.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery traded at $50.36 U.S. a barrel, down 50 cents, or 1%. It was trading at $49.98 U.S. before the supply data. September Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 28 cents, or 0.5%, to $56.76 U.S. a barrel.
Early Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a climb of 2.5 million barrels in crude supplies for the week ended July 17. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a crude-stock fall of 1.9 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute Tuesday said supplies climbed by 2.3 million barrels, according to sources.
The data also showed, however, that motor gasoline supplied over the last four weeks, which is an indication of demand, averaged 9.6 million barrels a day—that is up 6.9% from the same time a year ago.
Gasoline supplies fell 1.7 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil, tacked on 200,000 barrels last week, according to the EIA. Analysts surveyed by Platts expected gasoline stocks to be unchanged for the week, and distillate inventories to rise by 1.9 million barrels.
On Nymex, August gasoline edged down by 2.9 cents, or 1.5%, to $1.892 U.S. a gallon. August heating oil was nearly flat at $1.68 U.S. a gallon.
August natural gas traded at $2.851 U.S. per million British thermal units, down 3.1 cents, or 1.2%, after climbing 2.1% a day earlier. The EIA’s weekly data on natural-gas supplies are due Thursday.
