The price of oil settled lower on Thursday as a choppy trading session unfolded.

On Thursday, oil prices settled lower as a massive build in distillate stocks and gasoline offset a larger-than-anticipated decline in crude oil inventories.

On the other hand, Brent crude oil fell 0.8% to settle at $77.59 a barrel. It had risen as much as $1 during the session.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures settled down 52 cents, or 0.8%, at $72.19. The decline was due to lower fuel demand and a large increase in inventories. Data from the EIA showed that gasoline stocks rose by 10.9million barrels to reach 237 million barrels, while distillate stocks increased by 10.1million barrels to 125.9million barrels.

According to the EIA data, the supply of Distillate products, which is a proxy for demand, hit its lowest level since 1999.

Mild temperatures across the Northeast are expected to limit diesel gains this month. The US Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that commercial crude inventories fell by 5.5 million barrels last week. However, the agency noted that the decline was mainly due to the disruptions in the oil flow from the Red Sea. Bob Yawger, the director of energy markets at Mizuho, said that the situation in the region had forced a number of refiners to shift their operations to the United States.

The US Central Command said that the Islamic State fired two missiles into the southern Red Sea on Tuesday. The downbeat economic data released by the euro zone and Germany sent oil prices lower. However, inflation in Germany, which is a major contributor to the European Central Bank’s interest rate policy, increased, which could offer a reason for the bank to maintain its rates at present. Both Brent and WTI crude oil benchmarks rose around 3% on Wednesday.

The API data showed that crude stocks decreased by 7.4 million barrels, which was much larger than the expected decline.

Two explosions during a ceremony in Iran on Wednesday killed over a hundred people and wounded many others. The country’s officials have vowed to avenge the death of Qassem Somani, a commander who was killed by an American drone in 2020.