Crude oil futures ended significantly lower on Wednesday following the release of a report from the Energy Information Administration showing an unexpected increase in U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended May 5th. The report said crude oil inventories climbed by 3.0 million barrels after falling by 1.3 million barrels in the previous week. Economists had expected inventories to dip by 0.9 million barrels. Meanwhile, the EIA said gasoline inventories declined by 3.2 million barrels for the week, while distillate fuel inventories tumbled by 4.2 million barrels.
Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery fell $1.15 or 1.6 percent to settle at $72.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery declined $1.03 or 1.3 percent to settle at $76.41 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.