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NEW YORK, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices dropped as much as 4 percent on Wednesday as government data showed U.S. gasoline stockpiles unexpectedly increase last week.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday that U.S. gasoline supplies of last week added 1.2 million barrels, beating market forecasts. Meanwhile, U.S. crude supplies lost 2.5 million barrels to 521.8 million barrels, higher than market consensus of a 3-million barrels decline.
Analysts said the report was overall bullish, which spurred market concerns about oversupply.
In the previous session, oil prices increased as much as 4 percent from two-month lows as investors were covering short positions.
The West Texas Intermediate for August delivery lost 2.05 U.S. dollars to settle at 44.75 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery erased 2.21 U.S. dollars to close at 46.26 U.S. dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
