Crude oil for September delivery continues to be pummeled in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices nearing $90 a barrel on economic concerns and a build up in national inventories last week.
The federal Energy Information Administration reported today that crude supplies rose by 1 million barrels to 355 million barrels, an 0.03% gain, while gasoline stockpiles rose rose by 1.7 million barrels, or 0.8%, to 215.2 million barrels at the height of the summer driving season.
Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended July 29 was 3.6% lower than a year earlier, averaging nearly 9.1 million barrels a day, according to MarketWatch.
Analysts expected an increase of 2 million barrels of crude for the week ended July 29, but forecast gasoline supplies to increase by only 350,000 barrels. Both reserves are below last year's levels, according to Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Distillate fuel supplies, which includes diesel and heating oil, grew by 400,000 barrels to 152.3 million barrels, below analysts' expectation for a 1.8-million-barrel gain.
Oil for September delivery is down $2.02 to $91.77 a barrel in mid-day trading on the NYMEX. The United States Oil ( USO ) exchange-traded fund is at $35.80, down $0.60, or 1.65%.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
