NEW YORK -- Crude futures dropped Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Department reported an unexpected increase in the crude inventory last week.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery plunged to 131.95 U.S. dollars a barrel before rising back and settling at 134.55 dollars a barrel, trading down 2.45 dollars, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude oil supply rose 803,000 barrels to 301.8 million barrels in the week ended June 20, according to the weekly report of the U.S. Energy Department. It is the first increase in six weeks, and analysts had predicted it to fall. Many analysts believed that the stockpile rise is an evidence that the surging fuel prices has hurt U.S. domestic demand for fuel.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's Wednesday announcement that it would keep a key interest rate unchanged at 2 percent had little impact on oil prices as investors had largely expected the move.
In London, Brent crude for August delivery fell 2.13 dollars to settle at 134.33 dollars a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.
