Oil prices sank for a moment Wednesday morning, before gaining on some of its losses as investors reacted to U.S. government data that showed crude supplies growing, but inventories of gasoline and distillate fuel shrinking.
Light, sweet crude fell $2.13 to $53.90 per barrel in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The benchmark oil contract set an intraday high of $57.60 per barrel last Thursday.
The U.S. Energy Department said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels last week to 309.3 million barrels, or 8 percent above year-ago levels. Gasoline inventories shrank by 4.1 million barrels to 217.3 million barrels, or 8 percent above year-ago levels. The supply of distillate fuel, which includes heating oil and diesel, fell by 2.8 million barrels to 104.5 million barrels, or 3 percent less than a year ago.
