Oil Settles Marginally Lower

Oil prices settled slightly lower on Wednesday after data showed a surprise buildup in US crude inventories, coupled with concerns regarding the increased number of COVID-19 cases.

US benchmark crude, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), futures for September settled lower by 0.05% at $41.90 per barrel, recovering most of its earlier losses.

Meanwhile, the global benchmark Brent crude futures for September delivery decreased by 0.07% and closed at $44.29 per barrel.

Crude oil inventories in the United States increased by 4.9 million barrels during the week ending July 17, according to data by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, while distillate stockpiles increased by 1.1 million barrels last week.

A decline between 575,000 and 1.9 million barrels was expected by market experts and surveys for crude stocks.