Oil Closes Below $82 Following Strong Supply Report
Oil fell to finish the trading day below $82 a barrel Wednesday for the first time since early October following a Department of Energy report that showed supplies near a 22-year high, Bloomberg reported.
Crude futures fell $2.23 to finish the trading day $81.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg said. It was the lowest Nymex closing price since Oct. 5.
Crude stockpiles jumped 2.9 million barrels last week to 387.3 million barrels, the highest level since July 1990, DOE said in its weekly inventory report. Supplies were forecast to drop 1.3 million barrels, Bloomberg said.
Gasoline inventories rose by almost 1 million barrels, while distillates, which include diesel, rose 1.2 million barrels for the week ended Saturday, DOE said.
Diesel and gasoline prices have fallen steadily for almost three months, as oil has tumbled since April.
