Oil futures pared losses on Wednesday following weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration that showed a jump in crude supplies along with a hefty decline in distillate inventories.
Crude supplies jumped 6.4 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 24. Analysts polled by Platts were looking for a climb of 2.1 million barrels.
Distillate stockpiles, however, declined by 4.6 million barrels and gasoline supplies fell by 800,000 barrels, the EIA said. Gasoline stockpiles were expected to climb 1.6 million barrels while distillate supplies were seen down 2.3 million barrels, according to the Platts poll.
March crude traded as low as around $96.55 U.S. a barrel before paring losses to trade at $96.94 U.S., down 47 cents, or 0.5%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $96.72 U.S. shortly before the report.
