MW: Oil falls further after surprise inventory glut
By Claudia Assis
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures waded deeper into negative territory Wednesday after a government report showed a surprise increase in inventories. Crude oil for September delivery lost $1.42, or 1.8%, to $76.10 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 7.3 million barrels for the week ended July 23; analysts surveyed by Platts had expected a draw of 2.3 million barrels. The increase for gasoline and distillates stocks came in lower than expected, however. The EIA reported an uptick of 100,000 barrels for stockpiles of gasoline and 900,000 barrels for distillates. The analysts polled by Platts had predicted an increase of 1.1 million barrels for gasoline stocks and 1.8 million barrels for destillates stocks. Oil futures had traded around $76.74 a barrel, down 0.9%, before the report.
