Oil Pares Loss After EIA Reports U.S. Crude Supplies Up 2.1 Million Barrels

Oil futures pared some of their earlier losses on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a 2.1 million-barrel climb in crude-oil supplies for the week ended April 15. That was below the 3.1 million-barrel increase reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, but above the climb of 1.6 million barrels expected by analysts polled by Platts. Gasoline supplies fell 100,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles declined by 3.6 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. May crude was at $$40.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 52 cents, or 1.3%. Prices traded at $40.10 before the data.