NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- A selloff in oil accelerated Wednesday, though prices have since snapped back from their worst levels after a new weekly government report detailed sharply rising crude inventory levels.
For the week ended July 23, crude oil supplies rose by a surprising 7.3 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts polled by Platts had thought oil supplies would instead drop by 2.3 million barrels. The government assessment also far outpaced statistics released by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, which estimated oil stockpiles rose by 3.08 million barrels last week.
The EIA also said last week's gasoline inventories grew by 100,000 barrels, which was better than the expected 1.1 million barrel build-up. Distillate fuel stocks, too, rose by a lighter-than-expected 900,000 barrels, landing well below forecasts for a 1.8 million barrel increase.
After the report's release, the September delivery crude oil contract on the Nymex slid to around $76 a barrel, but has since pared back from its worst losses of the session. Most recently, the contract was sliding 28 cents to trade at $77.22 a barrel. After slumping, the September heating oil was trading a fraction higher at $2.03 a gallon, while September gasoline was shedding nearly a penny to $2.06 a gallon.
Shares of ConocoPhillips(COP) were trading modestly higher, up 8 cents at $54.52, after beating analysts' estimates with earnings of $1.67 a share. ConocoPhillips also said it was selling a 7.6% stake in Lukoil back to the Russian conglomerate.
A 2% increase in oil and gas production and a trimmed loss in its downstream segment, among other factors, helped Hess(HES) top second-quarter earnings projections as it posted a profit of $1.15 a share.
Dow Jones Industrial Average component Exxon Mobil(XOM), which is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings results Thursday morning, was rising 0.6% Wednesday. Shares of fellow blue-chip Chevron(CVX), which is due to report Friday, were losing nearly 0.1%.
Oil-related stocks were dropping broadly along with the major market averages, as the NYSE Arca Oil index was losing 0.5% and the Philadelphia Oil Service index was down 0.4%.
