Oil prices continued to decline after the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported a drop of 4.3 million barrels in crude supplies for the week ended July 10.
Analysts polled by Platts forecasted a crude-stock fall of 1.8 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute Tuesday said supplies declined by 7.3 million barrels, according to sources.
Gasoline supplies rose 100,000 barrels and distillate stockpiles climbed by 3.8 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. August crude was at $52.24 U.S. a barrel, down 80 cents, or 1.5%, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $52.40 U.S. before the report.
