Crude oil futures ended marginally lower on Wednesday after official data showed a smaller-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories in the week ended July 14th. Data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed U.S. crude inventories dropped by $0.708 million barrels last week, as against forecast for a drop of about 2.44 million barrels. Gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.066 million barrels last week, less than an expected decline of 1.577 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 0.014 million barrels, smaller than the forecast for a 0.460 million barrels drop. Besides, a stronger dollar weighed as well on crude oil prices.
Benchmark crude oil futures for August delivery fell $0.40 or about 0.5 percent to settle at $75.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for September delivery lost $0.10 or about 0.12 percent to settle at $79.46 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.