Oil Falls as Inventories Gain

Crude oil fell back by almost $1 a barrel following an Energy Department report that showed oil inventories jumped much higher than expectations last week, Bloomberg reported.

Benchmark light sweet crude oil futures fell to $68.19 a barrel after closing Tuesday at $69.10, the highest closing price on the New York Mercantile Exchange since Sept. 1, Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, crude stockpiles jumped 6.9 million barrels for the week ended Saturday, DOE said Wednesday in its weekly inventory report.

Analysts had expected crude inventories to dip by 50,000 barrels, Bloomberg said. Gasoline inventories rose 1.8 million barrels and distillates, which include diesel, gained 160,000.

Separately, OPEC rejected a call by the European Union to boost oil production, saying there was adequate global supply, Bloomberg reported.