Oil Inventories Hit Highest Level In 80 Years, Prices Fall Further

Oil continued to plunge Wednesday on a report that U.S. inventories have hit their highest level in 80 years.

Oil futures for March delivery fell more than 2 percent recently to $45.12 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent for March delivery fell 0.75 percent to $49.18 on the London's ICE Futures exchange.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 8.9 million barrels last week from the previous week, to 406.7 million barrels, according to a report Wednesday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

U.S. crude oil inventories "are at the highest level for this time of year in at least the last 80 years," the agency said.

West Texas Crude futures on Tuesday were at $46.23 a barrel, down $0.16 from week earlier and $49.49 less than a year ago.

The United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) USO traded recently at $16.93, down 1.6 percent.