Oil prices fell on Wednesday, with the U.S. benchmark settling at its lowest year to date, after domestic crude stockpiles in the world's top petroleum producer and consumer rose more than expected last week.

Crude oil futures posted modest gains Tuesday, following U.S. benchmark stock indexes in recovering part of the previous session's sharp losses.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, following a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles and easing worries over Libyan supply, while focus turned to potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports. Brent crude futures were down 59 cents,

U.S. oil futures on Wednesday marked their lowest settlement price of the year so far after official data revealed a weekly rise in commercial crude inventories following nine consecutive weekly declines.