Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday as worries about the outlook for energy demand, and data showing a larger than expected jump in U.S. crude inventories weighed on prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended lower by $0.32 or about 0.4% at $88.52 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.11 or 0.12% at $91.95 a barrel a little while ago.
Data from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories rose by 3.954 million barrels in the week ended September 8th, as against expectations for a 1.912 million drop.
Gasoline stock piles increased by 5.56 million barrels last week, much larger than an expected rise of 237,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 3.931 million barrels, about 3 times the expected increase of 1.303 million barrels.
"Oil prices softened after the US inflation report suggested consumer spending will weaken given the surge in gasoline prices and airfares," says Edward Moya, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA. "The economic data doesn't bode well for the crude demand outlook going into year end," he adds.
