Crude Oil Falls Following DOE Inventory Report

April 6, 2005 1:00 AM, EDT

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rude oil fell Wednesday for a third straight day after the Department of Energy issued its weekly inventory reports showing strong oil stocks, Bloomberg reported.

Light sweet crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at $55.85 a barrel, down 19 cents from Tuesday’s close.

DOE said in its weekly inventory report Wednesday that crude inventories rose by 2.4 million barrels, larger than what analysts had expected, CNBC reported.

Gasoline stocks dropped by 2.1 million barrels, while distillate inventories, which include diesel, fell by 700,000 barrels, DOE said.

Crude oil hit a record high Friday and topped that Monday, hitting $58.28 in intraday trading before receding, Bloomberg reported.