Oil prices slid on the U.S. crude oil inventories data and on comments by Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi. He said that there will be no cut in oil output.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its crude oil inventories data on Wednesday. U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels to 507.6 million in the week to February 19.

Analysts had expected U.S. crude oil inventories to rise by 3.17 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories decreased by 2.2 million barrels, the first decline since November, according to the EIA.

Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, increased by 333,000 barrels.

U.S. crude oil imports decreased by 117,000 barrels per day.

Refineries in the U.S. were running at 87.3% of capacity, down from 88.3% the previous week.

WTI crude oil for April delivery decreased to $31.00 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude oil for April rose to $32.70 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.