NEW YORK, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell on Wednesday, driven by data showing an unexpected rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery lost 3.08 U.S. dollars, or 3.5 percent, to settle at 85.83 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery decreased 2.71 dollars, or 2.8 percent, to close at 92.65 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday that the nation's commercial crude oil inventories increased by 3.9 million barrels during the week ending Nov. 4. Analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights had expected the publication to show a decline of 0.7 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies.
According to the EIA, total motor gasoline inventories fell by 0.9 million barrels from last week, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 0.5 million barrels.
Also weighing on oil was a stronger U.S. dollar. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, jumped 0.83 percent to 110.5490 in late trading on Wednesday. Historically, the price of oil is inversely related to the price of the U.S. dollar.
