West Texas Intermediate crude fell from a two-week high after an Energy Information Administration report showed U.S. inventories unexpectedly rose last week.
WTI slid for the first time in three days. U.S. supplies gained 3.67 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 12, the EIA, the Energy Department's statistical arm, said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a drop of 1.5 million. Brent reversed earlier gains.
WTI for October delivery slipped 80 cents to $94.08 a barrel at 10:35 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The volume of all futures traded was about 1.5 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day.
Brent for November settlement fell 29 cents to $98.76 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after earlier rising as much as 0.6 percent. Volume was 8.9 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $5.75 to WTI on ICE for the same month. It closed at $5.24 yesterday.
The EIA also reported stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures, fell 357,000 barrels to 20 million. Gasoline supply declined 1.64 million barrels to 210.7 million and distillate fuel, including diesel and heating oil, rose 279,000 barrels to 127.8 million.
The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that crude supplies rose 3.3 million, according to Bain Energy. The API collects information on a voluntary basis from operators of refineries, bulk terminals and pipelines, while the government requires that reports be filed with the EIA.