Investing.com - Oil prices held on to losses on Wednesday, after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed domestic crude stockpiles increased for the first time in five weeks, but gasoline and distillate inventories fell sharply.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dipped 21 cents, or around 0.4%, to $52.24 a barrel by 10:40AM ET (1440GMT). Prices were at around $52.30 prior to the release of the inventory data.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., added 24 cents, or about 0.4%, to $58.57 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 856,000 barrels in the week ended October 22.
That compared with analysts' expectations for a decline of 2.6 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-gain of 519,000 barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, declined by 237,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 457.3 million barrels as of last week, which the EIA considered to be at the upper half of the average range for this time of year.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories fell by 5.5 million barrels, much more than expectations for a decline of 17,000 barrels. For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a decline of 5.2 million barrels.
Oil prices climbed on Tuesday, as Saudi Arabia reiterated a pledge to help balance the global crude market and geopolitical turmoil threatened global inventories.
They received another boost amid expectations that major global producers will extend a deal to curb production beyond its current expiry date next March.
The original deal, struck nearly a year ago between OPEC and 10 other non-OPEC countries led by Russia, was to cut production by 1.8 million barrels a day for six months. The agreement was extended in May of this year for a period of nine months until March 2018 in a bid to reduce global oil inventories and support oil prices.
In other energy trading Wednesday, gasoline futures inched up 0.3 cents to $1.736 a gallon, heating oil added 0.9 cents to $1.831 a gallon, while natural gas futures slumped 2.2 cents to $2.952 per million British thermal units.