Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday, giving up early gains, as data showed a notable increase in U.S. crude inventory in the week ended June 9th. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the U.S. surged by 7.919 million barrels last week, substantially larger than the expected increase of about 1.48 million barrels. The EIA data also showed the gasoline stockpile rose by 2.108 million barrels last week, more than three times the expected increase of about 0.637 million barrels.
Benchmark crude oil futures for July delivery fell $1.15 or about 1.7 percent to settle at $68.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for August delivery dropped $1.09 or 1.5 percent to settle at $73.20 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.