Crude Oil Rebounds Following Early Drop on Inventory Report

March 30, 2005 3:00 PM, EST

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rude oil prices edged up Wednesday after falling in intraday trading following a Department of Energy report that showed stronger-than-expected oil inventories.

Light sweet crude oil futures closed at $53.99 a barrel, down 24 cents from Tuesday's close on the New York Mercantile Exchange, CNBC reported.

Crude-oil stockpiles rose for a seventh straight week, DOE said in its weekly inventory report Wednesday.

The rise of 5.4 million barrels brought oil inventories to their highest level since July 2002 and exceeded analysts’ estimates of 2.5 million barrels, Bloomberg reported.

The intraday price had fallen to $52.70 a barrel earlier in the day. Crude futures hit a record $57.60 a barrel on March 17, less than two weeks ago.

Gasoline and distillate inventories fell by 2.9 million and 1.1 million barrels, respectively, but gasoline futures also fell in Wednesday Nymex trading, Bloomberg said.

In London, Brent North Sea crude oil fell 83 cents to $52.20 on the International Petroleum Exchange, Bloomberg said. Brent futures had reached a record $56.15 on March 17.