Crude oil futures extended losses on Wednesday, after official government data said that U.S. crude oil inventories rose significantly more-than-expected in the week ended March 25.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $103.62 U.S. a barrel during U.S. morning trade, tumbling 1.05%.
It earlier fell to a daily low of $103.56 U.S. a barrel. The contract traded at $103.96 U.S. prior to the release of the inventory report.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories rose more-than-expected in the week ended March 25, increasing by 2.9 million barrels, after rising by 2.1 million barrels in the preceding week.
Analysts had expected U.S. crude oil inventories to rise by two million barrels.
According to the data, total U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ending March 25 stood at 355.7 million barrels, remaining above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories declined more-than-expected, falling by 2.7 million barrels, surpassing expectations for a drop of two million barrels, while stocks of distillate fuels including heating oil and diesel increased by 0.7 million barrels.
U.S. crude oil imports averaged nearly 9.1 million barrels per day last week, up by 141,000 barrels per day from the previous week. Over the last four weeks, crude oil imports have averaged nearly 8.8 million barrels per day, 70,000 barrels per day below the same four-week period last year.
