Crude oil futures ended marginally higher on Wednesday despite data showing a larger than expected drop in crude inventories last week. Data released by US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude stockpiles fell by 7.36 million barrels last week (June, 11), much more than an expected drop of about 2.5 million barrels. The data showed gasoline stockpiles rose by 1.9 million barrels last week and distillate inventories dropped by 1.02 million barrels versus anticipated declines of 1 million barrels and 0.5 million barrels, respectively. The American Petroleum Institute (API) released a report on Tuesday showing a drop of 8.5 million barrels in crude inventories in the US in the week ended June 11.
Crude oil futures for July added 3 cents to settle at $72.15 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. August Brent crude gained 40 cents or 0.5 percent to settle at $74.39 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.