01.02.202319:40:00UTC+00Oil Futures Settle At 3-week Low As Crude Inventories Rise

Oil prices dropped to a three-week low on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing an increase in crude inventories last week in the U.S.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended lower by $2.46 or about 3.1% at $76.41 a barrel.

Brent crude futures settled at $82.84 a barrel today, down $2.62 or about 3.1%.

Data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the U.S. rose by 4.1 million barrels last week, rising for a sixth straight week. Crude inventories were expected to rise just 0.4 million barrels last week.

Gasoline inventories increased by 2.6 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles rose by 2.3 million barrels in the week.

Crude oil inventories rose by another 6.33 million barrels last week on top of last week's 3+ million-barrel build, the API report revealed on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, collectively known as OPEC+, today decied to keep their output policy unchanged.