By Claudia Assis and Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures held to losses Wednesday after a weekly government inventories report showed a higher-than-expected rise in crude supplies.
Crude for May delivery CLK2 -1.57% slipped $1.04 cents, or 0.1%, to $103.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Oil trimmed losses immediately after the Energy Information Administration report as the data also showed steeper declines for gasoline and distillates, but prices drifted back to closer to the same levels.
The EIA said crude inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels in the week ended April 13.
That contrasted with expectations of a rise around 400,000 barrels, according to analysts polled by Platts.
The EIA also said gasoline supplies decreased by 3.7 million barrels, and distillates stockpiles decreased by 2.9 million barrels.
The Platts analysts had expected distillates supplies unchanged, and gasoline inventories up 140,000 barrels.
May gasoline RBK2 -2.58% retreated 9 cents, or 2.7%, to $3.15 a gallon. Heating oil, a distillate, for May delivery HOK2 -1.05% lost 3 cents, or 1%, to $3.09 a gallon.
The data reinforced worries that global oil markets are oversupplied.
“Near-record Saudi production, coupled with growing proof of global stockbuilds occurring and lack of evidence that Iran is failing to place its barrels are all indicating that global crude markets are currently amply supplied,” wrote analysts at JBC Energy.
“In this respect, buyers may also be backing away from acquiring cargoes (of oil) in anticipation of a correction in global flat prices, which might be nearing,” they said.
Crude settled 1.2% higher in the North American session on Tuesday after a successful Spanish bond sale and solid German investor confidence data soothed concerns about the euro zone and pointed to a strengthening global economy, which raised hopes for more oil consumption.
Optimism carried over into the Asian session on Wednesday, pushing equity markets there sharply higher and while commodity markets also gained. Read more on Asian equity markets.
But European markets drifted lower and U.S. stocks opened lower, as earnings from heavyweights technology companies such as Intel Corp. INTC -2.11% disappointed. Read more about U.S. stocks.
Claudia Assis is a San Francisco-based reporter for MarketWatch.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney. William Watts in Frankfurt contributed to this report.
