MW: Oil prices tumble after big rise in inventories
U.S. crude supplies rose by 6.1 million barrels to stand at 332.7 million barrels during the week ended Jan. 16, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Thursday. Analysts had expected a buildup of 1.9 million barrels, according to a Platts survey. After the data, March crude futures tumbled $2.62, or 6%, to $40.92 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The EIA also reported a rise of 6.5 million barrels in gasoline supplies and a rise of 0.8 million barrels in distillate stocks. Analysts had expected a rise of 1.9 million barrels for gasoline stocks and a decline of 2.25 million barrels for distillates.
