Oil prices dropped by more than $2 a barrel Wednesday after the U.S. government reported a large build in crude oil inventories.
Light, sweet crude for the June contract fell $2.63 to $51.57 a barrel in afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gas futures dropped by 7 cents to $1.55 a gallon, while heating oil futures fell 1.79 cents to $1.49 a gallon. In London, Brent crude fell 89 cents to trade at $53.25 on the International Petroleum Exchange.