Crude oil prices looked set to start trade weaker on Thursday in Asia after a report on weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a sharper-than-expected gain in weekly oil inventories, but lower gasoline stocks.
ICE Brent was last quoted down 0.99 percent at US$75.68 a barrel, while NYMEX WTI eased 0.52 percent to US$66.47 a barrel. Brent settled down 0.35 percent at US$76.17 a barrel on Wednesday, while WTI gained 0.59 percent to US$66.82 a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories rose 6.35 million barrels in the week to 19 October, almost double the expected pace of 3.69 million, marking the fifth straight weekly build.
Gasoline inventories however fell 4.83 million barrels, compared with an expected draw of 1.88 million barrels. Distillates dropped 2.26 million barrels, compared with an expected fall of 1.93 million barrels.
The official data compared with a 9.9 million barrels build last week to 418.4 million reported by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday.
The API estimates are from industry sources and the EIA data is required from companies; the two data readings often diverge.
