Benchmark crude for September delivery was down 46 cents to US$82.09 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained US$1.21 to settle at US$82.55 on Tuesday, the highest since May 4.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 776,000 barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute. That was less than a drop of 1.2 million barrels that analysts expected, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Supplies of gasoline and distillates rose, the API said. The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration is scheduled to report its inventory data on Wednesday.
Analysts point to surging oil demand in developing economies, especially China, as more than offsetting a tepid recovery in the U.S. and Europe.
“The underlying fact is the emerging markets are still growing and so is their consumption of energy,” Sander Capital said in a report.
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