Benchmark U.S. crude oil dropped $1.95 to $41.17/b, Brent fell $1.96 to $46.88/b
Shares of the world’s biggest oil companies are tumbling to multi-year lows on new data showing that U.S. crude oil inventories continue to rise at a time of year when they are typically in decline.
Commercial inventories increased by 2.6 million barrels last week, according an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday, jolting energy analysts who had been expecting levels to fall.
The EIA says “U.S. crude oil inventories remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.”
Crude prices fell at their lowest levels in more than six years. Prices are down 4.5 per cent in afternoon trading.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc., Marathon Oil Corp., Chevron Corp., and ConocoPhillips all slid to multi-year lows.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 113 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 17,397 as of 2:05 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 12 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 2,085 and the Nasdaq composite fell 24 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 5,038.
The sell-off was broad, with all 30 stocks of the Dow in the red and the 10 sectors of the S&P 500 index lower. The biggest decliners were in the oil and energy industries.
Benchmark U.S. crude dropped $1.95 to $41.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.96 to $46.88 per barrel.