Oil futures fell further Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude stockpiles jumped by 14.4 million barrels last week.
That's the largest-ever increase based on EIA data doing back to 1982. The prior record gain was 12.5 million in April 1985.
But recent numbers have been more volatile since the EIA changed its methodology in August, when it switched to "near real-time" export data from the Customs and Board Protection vs. estimating results from monthly export data from the Census Bureau.
Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that crude stockpiles climbed by 9.3 million barrels. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were only expecting a 1 million barrel build.
U.S. crude fell 2.9% to settle at $45.34 per barrel, a fresh 1-month low, after tumbling 6.1% in the prior three sessions. Brent finished down 2.7% at $46.86.
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Domestic production rose 0.2% to 8.52 million barrels per day. Gasoline stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels vs. the 1.1 million barrel drop analysts expected.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) ended trading down 0.2% to 83.45 on the stock market today, paring steeper, early losses. BP (BP) edged down 0.3% to 34.01 after tumbling 4% Tuesday on its earnings report. Chevron (CVX) lost 1% to 105.39. Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) fell 2.2% to 51 after gaining 4.7% Tuesday on its Q3 report.
Source: Investors.com
