Oil Drops $5 to Below $95 a Barrel
Oil fell more than $5 on Wednesday — down from a $100-plus per-barrel closing price on Tuesday — after OPEC said it would lift its production ceiling and a government report showed gasoline and diesel inventories rose last week.
Crude futures fell $5.19 to $94.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest decline since September, Bloomberg reported.
Futures gained $2.37 Tuesday to finish at $100.14 per barrel, the first time since in almost a week oil finished over the $100 mark, Bloomberg figures showed.
OPEC’s move to lift its ceiling to 30 million barrels a day was its first change in three years and moves the cartel’s supply target nearer to current actual output, Bloomberg said.
The Department of Energy, meanwhile, said gasoline inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels last week, while distillates, which include diesel, gained 500,000 barrels.
Crude inventories slipped by 1.9 million barrels for the week ended Saturday, a smaller decline than the 2.5 million-barrel drop forecast by analysts, Bloomberg reported.
