NEW YORK, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices fell on Wednesday despite government data showed U.S. oil inventory declined last week.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its weekly report on Wednesday that crude inventories fell by 8.95 million barrels in the August 11 week, nearly three times of analysts' expectations for a decrease of 3.1 million barrels. Meanwhile, data showed gasoline and distillate inventories rose.
Analysts said the oil prices had been under pressure recently as investors were concerned that global glut would persist because major oil producers' compliance with production cuts did not improve.
The West Texas Intermediate for September Delivery lost 0.77 dollar to settle at 46.78 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for October delivery erased 0.53 dollar to close at 50.27 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
