Oil prices fall slightly after surprise build in U.S. stockpiles

Oil prices decreased modestly on Wednesday after data showed an unexpected build in U.S. crude stockpiles in the latest week.
 
The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery lost 2 cents to settle at 41.90 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery was down 3 cents to close at 44.29 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
 
U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 4.9 million barrels during the week ending July 17, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts had forecast a decline of 1.9 million barrels.
 
At 536.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories were about 19 percent above the five-year average for this time of year, said the EIA.