Crude oil prices fell on Thursday after government data showed the first rise in U.S. crude stockpiles in six weeks as refinery inputs fell.
Inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels to a total of 474 million barrels in the week through Oct. 7. Analysts’ expectations were that crude stockpiles had risen by 300,000 barrels.
That was also a larger build than the private American Petroleum Institute reported on Wednesday. It said U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels.
Offsetting the crude build, U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell by 1.9 million barrels, and distillate fuel oil in storage dropped by 3.7 million barrels.
Brent crude futures were trading down 43 cents at $51.86 per barrel at 11:03 a.m. ET (1503), up 15 cents from their previous close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 46 cents to $49.72 per barrel.
