Crude Oil Prices Fall Following Positive Inventory Reports

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rude oil prices fell to their lowest level in two weeks following positive inventory reports from the Department of Energy that supplies were holding strong.

Benchmark light sweet crude oil futures cosed at $56.72 a barrel Wednesday, down 74 cents from Tuesday’s closing price, Bloomberg reported.

Crude oil inventories fell 900,000 barrels last week, but distillates — which include diesel — rose by 2.2 million barrels, DOE said in its weekly report.

The crude oil inventory drop was much better than the 3.45 million-barrel decline predicted by analysts in the wake of Hurricane Dennis, Bloomberg said.

The distillate rise also beat analysts’ expectations of a 1.7 million-barrel increase, and was the ninth consecutive week of distillate inventory gains, Bloomberg reported.