Oil Steady Below $70 Following DOE Inventory Report

Oil prices were steady Wednesday following a Department of Energy report that showed increases in crude inventories last week, Bloomberg reported.

Crude inventories rose 1.9 million barrels, while distillates, which include diesel, gained 1.4 million barrels, DOE said in its weekly report Wednesday.

Gasoline stockpiles declined 5.7 million barrels, DOE said.

Crude rose 14 cents to $69.61 a barrel after falling $1.65 to close Tuesday at $69.47, the lowest price since June 27, Bloomberg reported.

Hurricane Dean came ashore in Mexico Tuesday as a Category 2 storm — the second-lowest strength level for hurricanes — and caused some production losses in Mexico, but not nearly the damage to refineries caused by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina two years ago, the Associated Press reported.