Oil Prices Drop 1% .. Brent Crude Reaches 76.19%

Oil prices fell more than 1% on Wednesday as a stronger dollar and a build in U.S. fuel inventories last week weighed on prices, erasing earlier gains from tighter supplies from Russia and other OPEC members, Reuters reported.

Brent crude fell 1.12% to $76.19 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 1.13% to $73.41.

Both benchmarks rose more than 1% earlier in the session.

Latest oil prices:

WTI Crude $73.21 -0.15%

Brent Crude $76.08 -0.11%

Murban Crude $76.38 +0.03%

Louisiana Light $77.24 +0.89%

Bonny Light $78.62 -2.30 -2.84%

Opec Basket $76.07 -0.14%

Mars US $73.93 -1.64%

Gasoline $2.011 +0.04%

Natural Gas $3.625 -0.71%

U.S. fuel stockpiles rose last week, while crude inventories fell on stronger refining activity, according to data released on Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

U.S. gasoline stocks rose by 6.3 million barrels last week to 237.7 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.5 million-barrel gain.

Distillate stocks rose by 6.1 million barrels in the week to 128.9 million barrels, compared with expectations for a 600,000-barrel gain.

Crude stocks fell by 959,000 barrels to 414.6 million barrels in the week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 184,000-barrel draw.

A stronger dollar has also weighed on prices by making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.