NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices declined on Wednesday, as the market was affected by a sharp increase in U.S. crude stockpiles last week, which partly offset the influence over political tensions in Venezuela.
For the week ending April 26, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories surged by 9.9 million barrels from the previous week, said the U.S. Energy Information Administration in its latest weekly report.
At 470.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are at the five-year average for this time of year.
However, investors continued following closely the developments surrounding a rebellion against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which was led by opposition leader Juan Guaido earlier this week.
The tensions caused further worries over the country's crude exports and tightening global supply, following U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's oil earlier.
The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery decreased 0.31 U.S. dollar to settle at 63.60 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery decreased 0.62 dollar to close at 72.18 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
