Investing.com - Oil prices fell to the lowest level of the session on Wednesday, after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed domestic crude supplies fell less than expected last week.
The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude September contract was at $48.73 a barrel by 10:35AM ET (1435GMT), down 43 cents, or around 0.9%. Prices were at around $48.99 prior to the release of the inventory data
Elsewhere, Brent oil for September delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London dipped 44 cents to $51.34 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels in the week ended July 28.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock decline of around 3.0 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply-gain of 1.8 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 39,000 barrels last week, the EIA said.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 481.9 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 decreased by 2.5 million barrels, compared to expectations for a much more modest decline of 0.6 million barrels.
For distillate inventories including diesel, the EIA reported a fall of 0.2 million barrels.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gasoline futures for September was down 2.4 cents, or around 1.5%, to $1.631 a gallon, while September heating oil lost 1.0 cent to $1.630 a gallon.