Oil prices plunged on Wednesday, with futures falling to their lowest since January, after the U.S. government reported an unexpected surge in the nation’s crude stockpiles. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell to $50.66 a barrel after the report, its lowest level since January 15.
That means that oil prices have officially entered a bear market, defined as a drop of 20 percent. Prices have settled 22 percent below the most recent high of $66.30 on April 23.
The reason for all this: U.S. commercial crude inventories jumped by 6.8 million barrels in the week through May 31, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported, even though U.S. crude imports jumped by more than 1 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, weekly U.S. oil production ticked up to an all-time high 12.4 million barrels per day.
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