Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures held on to losses on Wednesday, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. rose broadly in line with market expectations last week.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange shed 61 cents, or 1.27%, to trade at $47.29 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. Prices were at around $47.51 prior to the release of the inventory data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 2.847 million barrels in the week ended October 30.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock rise of 2.787 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported an increase of 2.8 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 212,000 barrels last week, following a decline of 785,000 barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 482.8 million barrels as of last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 3.3 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decline of 1.0 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 1.3 million barrels.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for December delivery slumped 63 cents, or 1.26%, to trade at $49.91 a barrel.
The oil market has been volatile in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink.
Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production.
Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $2.62 a barrel, compared to $2.65 by close of trade on Tuesday.