Oil futures trim decline after fall in crude, gasoline inventories

Oil futures trimmed losses Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration said crude and gasoline inventories fell last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery
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was off 15 cents, or 0.3%, at $42.74 a barrel after trading as low as $42.26. The Energy Information Administration said crude inventories last week fell by 1.6 million barrels, while gasoline inventories were down 3.3 million barrels. Oil had been under pressure after the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a rise in gasoline inventories, which would be a bearish sign in the final stretch of summer driving season. The EIA said distillate inventories rose by 200,000 barrels. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts had expected the EIA data to show U.S. crude supplies fell 3.8 million barrels last week, while gasoline stocks were expected to show a decline of 2 million barrels. Distillate supplies were forecast to fall 900,000 barrels.