Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil came off the lowest levels of the session in North America trade on Wednesday, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. rose less than feared last week.
Crude oil for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 64 cents, or 2.01%, to trade at $31.23 a barrel by 15:35GMT, or 10:35AM ET. Prices were at around $30.93 prior to the release of the inventory data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels in the week ended February 19. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock rise of 3.4 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply gain of 7.1 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, rose by 333,000 barrels last week, the EIA said, raising fears that the nation's largest storage facility is nearing full capacity.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 507.6 million barrels as of last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
Gasoline inventories decreased by 2.2 million barrels, compared to expectations for a drop of 1.0 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined by 1.7 million barrels.
A day earlier, New York-traded oil futures tumbled $1.52, or 4.55%. U.S. oil prices are down nearly 17% so far this year as a domestic supply glut dragged down prices.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery declined 35 cents, or 1.05%, to trade at $32.91 a barrel.
On Tuesday, London-traded Brent futures slumped $1.42, or 4.09%, as hopes for a supply cut dimmed after Saudi Arabia and Iran dismissed the possibility of reducing or freezing output.
Speaking before an audience at the CERAWeek 2016 Energy conference in Houston, Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Naimi said that the kingdom will not lower production from its current levels, resisting calls to slash output in an effort to boost prices.
Meanwhile, Iran made clear it has no interest in freezing production after sanctions against it were lifted, calling last week’s joint Russian/Saudi proposal for major exporters to cap output “ridiculous” and "laughable".
Oil futures are down nearly 70% since the summer of 2014. Global crude production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil and after a decision by OPEC last year not to cut production in order to defend market share.
Meanwhile, Brent's premium to the West Texas Intermediate crude contract stood at $1.68 a barrel, compared to a gap of $1.40 by close of trade on Tuesday.