Crude Oil Settles Sharply Lower

Among other energy products, motor gasoline stores fell by 3.3 million barrels during the week, whereas they were also expected to be unchanged. Distillate stores grew 1.6 million barrels, around 600,000 barrels more than analysts had forecast.

Natural gas stores rose by 87 billion cubic feet during the week, in line with estimates.

Meanwhile, energy stocks were mixed. BP (BP Quote) slipped 0.9% at $72.05, ConocoPhillips (COP Quote) was off 1.7% at $90.96, and Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote) was down 1.2% at $89.35.

Among E&P firms, Apache (APA Quote) slid 4.2% to $133.16, Anadarko (APC Quote) was 3.1% lower at $74.64, and Plains Exploration (PXP Quote) dropped 4.1% to $70.80.

The U.S. Oil Exchange Fund (USO Quote), an exchange-traded fund that closely tracks price movements in West Texas crude futures contracts, gave back 3.5% at $102.26.