MW: Oil lower after larger-than-expected supply rise
By Claudia Assis
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures added sharply to their losses Wednesday following an inventories increase nearly five times larger than expectations. Crude for May delivery CLK2 -1.87% retreated $1.83, or 1.8%, to $102.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had traded around $102.80 moments before the data. The Energy Information Administration reported an increase in crude stockpiles by 9 million barrels in the week ended March 30. That contrasts with expectations of an increase by 1.9 million barrels, according to analysts polled by Platts. Gasoline inventories declined 1.5 million barrels, while supplies of distillates were unchanged. The analysts surveyed by Platts had expected gasoline supplies down 1.6 million barrels, while supplies of distillates had been seen down 600,000 barrels.
