Oil prices fall 1%, Brent below $77

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices deepened their losses on Wednesday as investors parsed data showing higher-than-expected US crude inventories, breaking a nine-week streak of declines.

Brent crude futures for March delivery fell 1.15%, or $0.91, to $76.58 a barrel. Additionally, futures prices for US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for March delivery lost over 1.55%, or $1.15, to $72.62 per barrel.

Commercial oil inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels last week, compared to an expected rise of 2.2 million barrels, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.

Crude oil refinery inputs declined by 333,000 barrels per day compared with a week earlier. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories increased by three million barrels.