Futures down then up on inventories report

Weekly U.S. Department of Energy oil inventory data sent futures prices down and then up on Wednesday.

June delivery IPE Brent fell to $49.66 per barrel but was back up to $51.37 per barrel by late afternoon in London. In New York, June Nymex WTI dropped to $48.80 per barrel before rebounding to $50.70 per barrel by early afternoon in New York.

Crude oil and gasoline inventories were both up again, while inventories of distillates such as heating oil and diesel were down. The increase in gasoline inventories reflects a slowdown in the growth of gasoline consumption in the U.S. When the report initially came out, prices fell as worries of tight supply on the world market eased.

However, when it became clear that inventories on the East Coast - which consumes the most oil of any U.S. region - were flat, while those on the West Coast are growing prices rebounded.

Crude oil inventories were up by 2.6 million barrels from last week to 327 million barrels, the highest level in nearly six years. Gasoline inventories increased by 2.2 million barrels to 213.5 million barrels.