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* Biden blames higher oil and gas prices on OPEC
* EIA shows bigger than expected jump in crude inventories
(Adds latest prices)
By David Gaffen
NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to a near
four-week low on Wednesday, after U.S. crude stocks rose more
than expected, as gasoline inventories in the world's largest
oil consumer hit a four-year low.
Brent crude futures fell $2.73, or 3.2%, to settle
at $81.99 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude fell $3.05, or 3.6%, to settle at $80.86.
That was the biggest daily percentage declines for both
benchmarks since early August and the lowest closes for Brent
since Oct. 7 and WTI since Oct. 13.
Weekly crude stocks rose more by 3.3 million barrels, more
than expected, but gasoline stocks fell to their lowest level
since November 2017. U.S. oil market supply has tightened, with
stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub at their lowest in
three years.
The U.S. Federal Reserve, as expected, said it will commence
tapering asset purchases this month. Traders said that could sap
some speculative buying in risk assets including oil.
"Markets already have been under pressure," said Phil Flynn,
analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "We're down because
of profit taking from the Fed meeting today."
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking at the COP26 global
climate summit in Glasgow, blamed a surge in oil and gas prices
on a refusal by OPEC nations to pump more crude. The average
retail price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was
lately at $3.40, according to AAA, up about 20 cents from a
month ago.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and
its allies, a group known as OPEC+, meets on Thursday and is
expected to reconfirm plans to keep monthly supply increases
steady despite calls for an acceleration.
In a sign high prices are encouraging more supply, BP Plc
said on Tuesday it would ramp up investments in onshore
U.S. shale oil and gas to $1.5 billion in 2022 from $1 billion
this year. Overall, U.S. output increased to 11.5 million
barrels per day, equaling the highest level this year.
(Additional reporting by Noah Browning, Julia Payne and Scott
DiSavino;
Editing by David Gregorio and John Stonestreet)
