Extending their losses for fifth straight session, crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday with concerns about COVID’s impact on energy demand pressuring prices even as U.S. government data revealed a more than three million-barrel weekly decline in domestic crude inventories. The most active oil futures contracts finished to their lowest in about three months. The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels for the week ended August 13. Street had expected an inventory draw of 1.26 million barrels for the period. Gasoline stockpiles increased by 700,000 barrels last week, while distillate inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported late Tuesday a draw of just over 1 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ending August 13.
Crude oil futures for September fell $1.13 or 1.7 percent to settle $65.46 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. October Brent crude dropped 80 cents or 1.2 percent to settle at $68.23 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.