Oil prices pared gains -- after rising more than 3% at their intraday peak on Wednesday -- as data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed gasoline and diesel stockpiles surged for a second consecutive week and crude stocks rose more than expected.
Gasoline stocks rose by 8.4 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in an economist poll for a 2.7 million barrels gain. Last week, the stockpiles rose more than 10 million barrels, the largest build since 1993.
Distillate stockpiles, including diesel and heating oil, rose by 6.1 million barrels, according to the EIA data, as opposed to expectations for a two-million-barrel increase.
Crude inventories rose by 234,000 barrels in the last week, compared with analysts' expectations for a jump of 2.5 million barrels. The EIA said crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub rose by 97,000 barrels.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up 32 cents at $30.76 U.S. a barrel mid-morning Wednesday. On Tuesday, it fell 97 cents to close at $30.44 U.S. a barrel, after touching a low of $29.93, last seen in December 2003.
The American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday crude inventories fell by 3.9 million barrels in the week to 480.071 million.
