Investing.com - Oil prices fell to the lowest levels of the session during North American hours on Wednesday, adding to losses after data showed that crude supplies in the U.S. rose by the most since at least 1984 last week.
Crude oil for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $1.34, or 2.94%, to $45.27 a barrel by 10:36AM ET (14:36GMT). Prices were at around $45.85 prior to the release of the inventory data. The contract fell to a session low of $45.05 earlier, a level not seen since September 28.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 14.4 million barrels in the week ended October 28. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock gain of 1.0 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply increase of 9.3 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 482.6 million barrels as of last week, which the EIA considered to be “historically high levels for this time of year”.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 2.2 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decline of 1.1 million barrels.
For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a drop of 1.8 million barrels.
Elsewhere, Brent oil for January delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London sank $1.51, or 3.05%, to $46.62 a barrel, after touching a session low of $46.56, the weakest level since September 28.
London-traded Brent prices settled down 47 cents, or 0.97%, on Tuesday, amid mounting skepticism over the implementation of a planned deal by OPEC to limit production.
OPEC reached an agreement to cap output to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day in talks held in Algeria in late September. However, the 14-member oil group said it won’t finalize details on individual output quotas until its next official meeting in Vienna on November 30.
The possibility that producers could walk away empty-handed from the November meeting looms large after Iraq, Iran, Nigeria and Libya all signaled they might not take part in the proposed production cut deal. Russia’s unclear stance is also fueling uncertainty.