Investing.com - U.S. crude prices plunged further on Wednesday, hitting an eight-week low after data showed that U.S. oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week.
West Texas Intermediate crude was down $1.73, or roughly 2.5%, at $65.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by 10:33AM ET. It was the lowest level since June 21. Prices were at around $65.86 prior to the release of the inventory data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 6.8 million barrels in the week ended August 10.
That compared with analysts' expectations for a decline of 2.4 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-increase of 3.7 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 414.2 million barrels as of last week.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 740,000 barrels, compared to expectations for a drop of 583,000 barrels. For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a rise of 3.5 million barrels.
Prices were already on the backfoot ahead of the EIA data, as sentiment was clouded by a darkening economic outlook which could start impacting oil demand, traders said.