Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday after data showed a notable increase in crude inventory in the U.S. Data released by Energy Information Administration EIA) showed crude inventories, excluding the strategic reserve, increased by 8.7 million barrels in the week ended November 17th, substantially higher than an expected increase of about 1.2 million barrels. The EIA data also showed that gasoline stockpiles surged 749,000 barrels last week, as against forecasts for a drop of about 150,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1.02 million barrels in the week, against expectations for a 761,000-barrel decline.
Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery dropped $0.67 or about 0.86 percent to settle at $77.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery fell $0.49 or nearly 0.59 percent to settle at $81.96 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.