Oil prices fall as U.S. agency confirms buildup of inventories

HOUSTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. crude oil inventories increased last week ending March 23, and the refining sector input 18,000 barrels per day more than the previous week's average, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a report on Wednesday.

According to the Weekly Petroleum Status Report, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, of the week ending March 23, increased by 1.6 million barrels from the previous week.

At 429.9 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are in the lower half of the average range for this time of the year.

Total products supplied over the past four-week period averaged over 20.7 million barrels per day, up by 5.7 percent from the same period last year.

Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged about 9.4 million barrels per day, up by 0.5 percent from the same period last year.

Distillate fuel product supplied averaged over 4.0 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, down by 4.1 percent from the same period last year. Jet fuel product supplied is up 5.0 percent compared to the same four-week period last year.

Oil prices slipped after the American Petroleum Institute reported a surprise 5.321-million-barrel inventory buildup on Tuesday.

Oil prices extended losses following the EIA report. On Wednesday morning, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude prices decreased by 0.81 percent and 0.52 percent to 64.72 U.S. dollars and 69.10 dollars, respectively. Enditem