NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - Oil held declines after the U.S. government reported a build in nationwide crude inventories for the second consecutive week.

The Energy Information Administration said crude supplies rose 2.41 MMbbl last week. At the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub, inventories rose 2.26 MMbbl, the most since February and the first advance in 12 weeks.

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery dropped $1.41, or 2.6%, to $55.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:36 a.m. local time. Brent for the same month slipped $1.67, or 2.7%, to $61.42 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe Exchange, and traded at a $5.66 premium to WTI.