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NEW YORK - Crude futures slumped on Wednesday after U.S. official data showed oil inventories rose less than expected and distillate fuel stock increased more than forecasted last week.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported today that crude oil inventories rose by 200,000 barrels less, than the 1.8 million barrel increase forecasted by analysts.

According to the report, distillate stockpiles, including heating oil, rose 1.34 million barrels compared to predictions ranging from 600,000 to 1 million barrels increase. Gasoline inventories fell 1.7 million barrels while analysts estimated a rise of 100,000 barrels.

Refineries operated at 86.6 percent of their capacity surpassing an estimated increase of 0.7 percentage point to 85.7 percent from last weeks results, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll.

The Energy Department said that consumption of fuel in the U.S. dropped on the week ended May 9. by 2.7 percent from a year earlier to 20.3 million barrels a day last week.

Crude oil for June delivery declined 0.71 cents or 0.56 percent to $125.09 a barrel by 11:08 a.m. in the New York Mercantile Exchange today.

Distillate fuels have recently driven the market on concerns that a lack of supplies is not meeting global demand and several analysts were closely watching today's data. Prices reached an all time record high yesterday at $126.98 a barrel on supply concerns.

Brent crude for delivery in June fell $1.35 or 1.10 percent to $121.43 a barrel by 11:39 a.m. in the London ICE Futures Exchange. Brent Futures hit its highest record at $125.90 last Friday.

Yesterday, prices rose to a record close to $127 a barrel after Iran's president said the nation was reviewing a plan to cut exports between 400,000 to 1 million barrels a day. He later dismissed the report. Iran is the second largest producer member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"There is no plan to cut exports and we keep our promises (to clients) ... and we export as usual," said Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, executive director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company, Reuters noted.