Oil prices hold steady under US$107 a barrel on mixed US supply report

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Crude oil prices barely budged on Wednesday amid a mixed report on supplies from the U.S. Energy Department.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose two cents to close at US$106.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The latest supply report from the Energy Department was a mixed bag.

Crude oil supplies fell by 2.8 million barrels, about double what analysts expected. But a 1.2-million barrel decline in gasoline supplies fell short of expectations for a drop of two million barrels.

Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, rose 38 cents to US$110.20 a barrel.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex: heating oil was flat at US$3.05 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), wholesale gasoline rose three cents to US$2.85 a gallon and natural gas added six cents to US$3.34 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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