Oil prices ended lower on Wednesday despite falling crude stockpiles in the U.S. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday that U.S. crude supplies of last week lost 0.9 million barrels to 531.5 million barrels.
Analysts said the report was actually bullish but the market was still trading lower, which showed investors were reluctant to buy with prices near 50 U.S. dollars a barrel.
Moreover, oil prices were under pressure after data showed U.S. rig count increased for the second straight week. Oilfield services company Baker Hughes said Friday that the number of rigs operating in U.S. fields rose by 3 to 328 in the week ending June 10, after 9 were added the week before. At the same time last year, drillers had 635 oil rigs online.
The West Texas Intermediate for July delivery lost 48 cents to settle at 48.01 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for August delivery decreased 86 cents to close at 48.97 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
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