By Claudia Assis and Nick Godt, MarketWatch
An earlier version of this story misstated the expiring date for the December contract. It has been corrected.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures trimmed their losses on Wednesday after a government report showed an unexpected drop in supplies.
Crude oil for January delivery (CLF11 82.65, -0.19, -0.23%) , the contract most heavily traded, declined 13 cents, or 0.1%, to $82.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Benchmark December crude retreated 14 cents, or 0.2%, to $82.20 a barrel. The contract expires on Friday.
Prices wavered between gains and losses after the Energy Information Administration said crude-oil inventories were down 7.3 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 12.
Gasoline inventories decreased 2.7 million barrels, and distillates stockpiles declined 1.1 million barrels, the EIA said.
Analysts polled by Platts expected an increase of 1.2 million barrels for crude-oil stocks, a rise of 650,000 barrels for gasoline supplies, and a decline of 1.8 million barrels for distillates stockpiles.
Oil had started the day pressured by lingering concerns that Chinese moves to curb lending might hit demand. The mood continued to be sour even though a trade group late Tuesday had also reported a decline in inventories.
“Now with inflation running wild in China, the market knows that the Chinese are going to have to tap on the breaks, striking a major blow to global oil demand expectations,” said Phil Flynn, energy analyst at PFGBest, in a note.
Oil for December delivery slumped 3%, hit by concerns about China and debt woes in Europe, to end at its lowest settlement since Oct. 29.
The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday said supplies of crude oil declined 7.65 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 12.
Meanwhile, gasoline futures turned higher after the EIA report. Gasoline for December delivery added a penny, or 0.6%, to $2.17 a gallon.
Natural-gas futures held on to their gains, with the December contract adding 14 cents, or 3.6%, to $3.96 per million British thermal units.
Traders are likely to pay more attention to this week’s EIA supply report for natural gas, analysts at Cameron Hanover said in a report to clients Wednesday.
“The question facing many traders is whether to look forward to next week, when temperatures are expected to be relatively mild in the Northeast and Southwest, or to the week after that, when readings are expected to decline along the East Coast and in the Midwest,” they said.
The EIA reports on natural-gas supplies Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
