Crude oil closed: inventories rose more than market expectations Crude oil closed sharply lower under pressure

In the early morning of November 24, Beijing time, the price of U.
S.
WTI crude oil futures fell
sharply on Wednesday.
EIA data showed U.
S.
distillate and gasoline inventories rose more than expected last week, weighing on oil prices
.
The market is also assessing the outlook
for crude oil demand.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for January delivery fell $3.
01, or 3.
7 percent, to settle at $
77.
94 a barrel on the U.
S.
Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
December natural gas futures closed up 7.
80% at $
7.
3080 per million British thermal.

The U.
S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday that U.
S.
commercial crude inventories, excluding strategic reserves, fell more than expected, and distillate inventories and gasoline inventories rose more than expected
in the week ended Nov.
18.
After the EIA data, the price of U.
S
.
crude oil fell by $0.
9 in the short term.

Specific data showed that the EIA crude oil inventory changes in the United States for the week ended November 18 actually decreased by 3.
691 million barrels, compared with an expected decrease of 105.
5 barrels and a decrease of 5.
4 million barrels
in the previous month.

In addition, EIA gasoline inventories in the United States for the week ended November 18 actually decreased by 3.
058 million barrels, an expected increase of 383,000 barrels, compared with an increase of 2.
207 million barrels in the previous month, and EIA refined oil inventories in the United States for the week ended November 18 actually increased by 1.
718 million barrels, an expected decrease of 550,000 barrels, and an increase of 1.
12 million barrels
in the previous month.