Amid concerns about the outlook for demand, crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday. The recent data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week also added pressure on oil prices. EIA data showed that the U.S. oil inventories jumped unexpectedly last week but that was due to another release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Crude inventories rose by 5 million barrels in the week to May 12 to 467.6 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations for a 900,000-barrel drop. At the same time, gasoline inventories dropped as demand surged to its highest since 2021.
Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery fell $0.97 or about 1.3 percent to settle at $71.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery declined $1.12 or 1.4 percent to settle at $75.84 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.