Oil prices fell in early Asian trading on Wednesday after the American Petroleum Institute announced that crude inventories increased more than expected last week and as investors’ expectations for the Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates receded.
Brent crude futures fell 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $82.48 when the market opened at 0000 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 22 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $77.65 per barrel.
Market sources reported, citing American Petroleum Institute figures issued late on Tuesday, that crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 8.52 million barrels in the week ending February 9.
The increase was much larger than the 2.6 million barrels expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
Petroleum Institute data also showed a decline in gasoline inventories by 7.23 million barrels and a decline in distillate inventories by 4.02 million barrels, both of which were a much larger decline than analysts expected.
Official data from the US Energy Information Administration is scheduled to be released on Wednesday at 1530 GMT.
The market was also affected by other data released on Tuesday that showed that consumer price inflation in the United States remained high last month. As a result, investors now expect US central bank policymakers to wait longer before cutting interest rates, which could weaken economic growth and oil demand.
With expectations of postponing the interest rate cut, the dollar rose to its highest level in three months. The rise in the dollar usually affects demand for oil among buyers who pay in other currencies.
