Crude oil futures ended lower on Wednesday on concerns about the outlook for global oil demand, and on data showing a much smaller than expected drop in crude oil inventories in the U.S. in the week ended August 23rd. Data from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories edged down by 0.8 million barrels last week after tumbling by 4.6 million barrels in the previous week. Street had expected crude oil inventories to decrease by 3.0 million barrels. Besides, the dollar's rebound weighed as well on oil prices.
Benchmark crude oil futures for October delivery dropped $1.01 or about 1.34 percent to settle at $74.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery fell $0.90 or 1.13 percent to settle at $78.65 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.