Oil prices tumbled Wednesday as official data showed an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday that U.S. oil inventories rose 2.5 million barrels last week to 523.6 million barrels.
Analysts had expected that U.S. crude stockpiles would fall modestly. U.S. crude oil imports averaged over 8.6 million barrels per day last week, up by 449,000 barrels per day from the previous week, according to the EIA.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Jawad Kadhim Al-Abadi, said on Tuesday his country had not yet reached its full oil market share, suggesting the government would not restrain crude output.
The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery decreased 1.33 U.S. dollars to settle at 46.77 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery dropped 0.91 dollar to close at 49.05 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
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