Oil continues lower; EIA posts crude supply rise ( CL2H ) (by Myra P. Saefong)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude futures continued to trade lower Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported 3.6 million barrel climb in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended Jan. 20. Motor gasoline supplies fell 400,000 barrels, while distillate stocks dropped by 2.5 million barrels in the latest week, the EIA report said. Analysts polled by Platts expected data to show that crude-oil stocks rose by 700,000 barrels. They also forecasted a rise of 2.2 million barrels in gasoline supplies and a decline of 300,000 barrels in distillate inventories. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, however, reported a 7.3 million barrel jump in last week's crude supplies. Following the latest data, March crude (cl2h) fell 83 cents, or 0.8%, to $98.12 a barrel.