Oil retreats amid surprise rise in U.S. stockpiles

The price for U.S. benchmark oil slipped Wednesday as a report on crude supplies in the United Statescame in unexpectedly high.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. stockpiles for the week ending Aug.26 rose by 2.3 million barrels. Analysts had been expecting an increase of just 921,000 barrels.

"I would call this the trifecta of bearish news. We should be getting draws for this time of year," Tariq Zahir, atrader in crude oil spreads at Tyche Capital Advisors in New York, told the Reuters news agency.

"Not only are we getting shocking builds, we're also being squeezed by the bullishness of the U.S. dollar and hurricane season that's had very little impact thus far on actual crude production," Zahir said.

Following the U.S. inventory report, the price for the Octoberfutures contract for light sweet crude fell $1.65US to close at$44.70US a barrel.

Reuters said that marked the first time in 12days that oil has traded below $45 US a barrel.

The Canadian dollar, which is closelytied to the fluctuations in oil prices, closed down by 0.12 of a U.S. cent at76.24 cents US.

The S&P/TSXComposite Index dropped 86.90 points, finishing at14,597.95.

Nine of the 12 subgroups closed lower, led by energy at 195.70 points, down 3.41 points, or 1.71 per cent.Information technology led the advancers, adding 0.22 of a point, or 0.39 per cent, to 55.96 points.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 53.42 points to close at 18,400.88, while the broader Standard-and-Poor's 500 index lost 5.17 points to end at 2,170.95. The Nasdaq composite declined 9.77 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 5,213.22.