1st LD Writethru: Oil prices retreat amid ample supplies

Oil prices fell Wednesday as market expected another gain in U.S. crude inventories.

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday will publish its report on crude data of last week. Traders expected to see U.S. crude inventories to rise for another week.

For the week ended Aug. 28, U.S. crude supplies climbed 4.7 million barrels to 455.4 million, 95.9 million barrels more than one year before, according to EIA's weekly report.

Oil prices also fell amid the surplus output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Even as global crude oil prices fell in 2014 and 2015, Saudi Arabia increased production and kept its export levels high, enabling it to maintain its market share in these countries, according to a report released by EIA Wednesday.

In the first half of 2015, Saudi Arabia exported on average 4.4 million barrels per day of crude oil to seven major trading partners in Asia, making up more than half of Saudi Arabia's total crude oil exports over that period.

The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery moved down 1.79 U.S. dollars to settle at 44.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery decreased 1.94 dollars to close at 47.58 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange. Endit