Benchmark U.S. crudeoil for March delivery fell $2.46 to $76.41 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crudefor April delivery fell $2.62 to $82.84 a barrel.
Wholesale gasoline for March delivery fell 12 cents to $2.45 a gallon. March heating oilfell 19 cents $2.95 a gallon. March natural gasfell 21 cents to $2.47 per 1,000 cubic feet.
The winter weather system, now in its third day, has swept from Minnesota deep into Texas. Wrecks on slippery roads have been reported in Texas, Arkansas and other states across the region all week.
Parts of Texas were colder than Alaska.AccuWeather reported a "real feel" temperature of 28 degrees in Dallas on Wednesday morning – 3 degrees warmer than in Anchorage, Alaska.
U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses...
U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses after the Federal Reserveraised its policy interest rate by 25 basis points, as widely expected while signaling only a few more might be needed in its inflation fight.
The Nasdaq Composite finished at the highest level since mid-September, while the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 both scored their biggest intraday recovery from session lows since Oct. 13, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.02% finished 6.92 points higher, or nearly flat at 34,092.96
The S&P 500 SPX, +1.05% gained 42.61 points, or 1%, to end at 4,119.21
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, 2.00% advanced 231.77 points, or 2%, to finish at 11,816.32
Fed inches interest rates up another quarter percentage point
The Federal Reserve approved a quarter-percentage-point interest-rate...
The Federal Reserve approved a quarter-percentage-point interest-rate increase and signaled plans to raise rates again next month to continue lowering inflation.
The decision Wednesday followed six consecutive larger rate rises, including an increase of a half point in December and 0.75 point in November.
Crude oil inventories rose by another 6.33 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum...
Crude oil inventories rose by another 6.33 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed on Tuesday, on top of last week’s 3+ million barrel build.
U.S. crude inventories increased by 13 million barrels last year, according to API data, while crude stored in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves sunk by 221 million barrels.
This week, SPR inventory held steady for the third week in a row at 371.6 million barrels as the emergency releases that the Biden Administration announced last spring are now complete. The SPR now contains the least amount of crude oil since early December 1983.
Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, increased by 2.72 million barrels on top of the 3.378-million barrel hike reported last week.
