Oil Drops 2 Percent After Record High

Oil prices closed down 2 percent Wednesday after setting a record high on a U.S. government report that said crude stocks fell while refinery activity surged.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.68, or 2.15 percent, to $76.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It climbed as high as $78.70 earlier, beating Tuesday’s intraday record of $78.25.

The Energy Information Administration report said U.S. oil inventories fell by 6.5 million barrels last week, far more than most analysts expected. Supplies are still 3.8 percent above year-ago levels.

At the same time, refinery use rose a higher-than-expected 1.9 percent to 93.6 percent of capacity from 91.7 percent a week earlier, the report said.

That sent gasoline futures falling. Reformulated-gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending fell 7.63 cents, or 3.62 percent, to $2.0296 a gallon.

Natural gas was the only energy commodity to end the day in positive territory. It rose 16.1 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $6.352 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Heating oil closed down 5.38 cents, or 2.53 percent, at $2.0694 a gallon.

AAA said the average U.S. retail regular unleaded gasoline price was $2.867 a gallon, down 0.9 cents from Tuesday’s $2.876 a gallon.