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Futures Movers: Oil prices fall on signs of surprise U.S. inventory rise

Oil prices fell Wednesday after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a surprise jump in inventory supplies, ahead of supply numbers from the Energy Information Administration due later. Read More...

Oil prices fell Wednesday after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a surprise jump in inventory, ahead of supply numbers from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) due later.

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery CLN19, -1.05%  fell 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $62.56 a barrel. Global benchmark July Brent BRNN19, -0.78% slipped 45 cents, or 0.6%, to $71.73 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies rose by 2.4 million barrels for the week ended May 17, according to sources. The data reportedly also showed a stockpile increase of 350,000 barrels in gasoline, but distillate supplies fell by 237,000 million barrels.

Investors are waiting on inventory data due later from the EIA, which is expected to show crude inventories declined by 2 million barrels last week, according to a survey of analysts conducted by S&P Global Platts. Gasoline is expected to show a supply climb of 1 million barrels, while distillates are due to fall by 1 million barrels.

U.S. oil prices settled lower Tuesday as U.S.-China trade woes weighed on energy-demand prospects. However, Middle East tensions provided some support for the global benchmark.

Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi rebels on Tuesday took responsibility for an attack on a Saudi airport and military base with a bomb-laden drone, an assault acknowledged by the Kingdom amid remain heightening tensions between Iran and the U.S.

The attack on the Saudi city of Najran came after Iran announced it has quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity, a year after the U.S. withdrew from its global nuclear deal pact.

Read: Here’s what’s feeding volatility in the oil market

Rounding out trading, June gasoline RBM19, -0.38%  fell 0.5% to $2.009 a gallon, while June heating oil HOM19, -0.93%  dropped 0.6% to $2.067 a gallon.

June natural gas NGM19, +0.15%  rose 0.3% to $2.620 per million British thermal units.

— Myra P. Saefong and Rachel Koning Beals contributed to this article

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