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By Bloomberg

Oil held losses after the biggest decline since April as an unexpected gain in U.S. crude stockpiles signaled a supply glut may persist.

Futures were little changed in New York after falling 4.2 percent Wednesday. Crude inventories expanded by 2.39 million barrels last week, a government report showed, compared with a 2.5 million drop forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Investors pulled the most money in six years from the largest U.S. exchange-traded fund that tracks West Texas Intermediate crude.

Oil’s recovery from a six-year low in March has faltered amid speculation the price rally is spurring production and prolonging a surplus. OPEC’s output surged last month to the highest level since August 2012 as Iraq joined Saudi Arabia in pumping at a record pace.

“The inventory numbers spooked investors,” David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “Anything that implies supply is more than adequate will impact on oil.”

WTI for August delivery was at $57.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 7 cents, at 1:08 p.m. Singapore time. The contract decreased $2.51 to $56.96 on Wednesday, the lowest price since April 22. Total volume was about 29 percent below the 100-day average. Prices have advanced 7.1 percent this year.

U.S. Supplies

Brent for August settlement was 19 cents higher at $62.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It slid $1.58 to $62.01 on Wednesday. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.17 to WTI.

Crude stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose to 465.4 million barrels in the week ended June 26, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. That’s more than 90 million above the five-year average level for this time of the year.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI contracts and the nation’s largest oil-storage hub, climbed by 123,000 barrels to 56.4 million, according to the Energy Department’s statistical arm.

Holders of the U.S. Oil Fund withdrew $1.02 billion last quarter, the most since the three months ended June 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. WTI traded within a range of about $5 a barrel in June, the narrowest in 19 months.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Crude Oil Volatility Index closed at 34.11 on Wednesday, signaling the most volatile trading since June 4.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose 12 members supply about 40 percent of the world’s oil, pumped 32.1 million barrels a day in June, according to a Bloomberg survey of producers and analysts this week. That’s an increase of 744,000 a day from May. Iraqi output accelerated to a record 4.39 million a day.