Oil Falls to Three-Month Low as Inventories Rise

rude oil prices fell to a three-month low Wednesday following a Department of Energy report showed that distillate fuel inventories, which include diesel, did not fall as much as forecasted, while oil and gasoline stockpiles rose, Bloomberg reported.

Benchmark light sweet crude oil futures Oil fell 10 cents to close at $59.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since July 27, Bloomberg said. It was the third consecutive day oil has closed below $60 a barrel.

Futures have fallen 16% since reaching a record $70.85 on Aug. 30 following Hurricane Katrina, though prices are 20% higher than a year ago, Bloomberg reported.

The distillate drop was well below analysts’ forecasts of a 1 million barrel drop, Bloomberg reported. Crude oil and gasoline supplies rose in line with expectations.

Distillate fuel consumption plunged 5.3% to 4.1 million barrels a day last week, Bloomberg said. Distillate demand has averaged 4 million barrels a day over the past four weeks, 1.5% less than the same period last year.