By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled 3 percent on Wednesday after a record weekly build in U.S. crude stocks added to worries of all-time highs in OPEC production that suggested little could be done to rein in a global glut.
The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude inventories rose by 14.4 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 28, versus analysts' expectations for a build of 1.0 million barrels. It was the biggest ever rise in U.S. crude stocks in a week, overwriting a 2012 record.
"This is very, very, very bearish. Nothing else in the report matters," said James L. Williams, energy economist at WTRG Economics in London, Arkansas.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by $1.55, or 3.3 percent, to $45.12 a barrel by 10:53 a.m. EDT (1453 GMT).
Brent was down $1.50 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $46.64.
Both benchmarks were at their lowest since Sept. 28.
Crude prices have swung in recent weeks, with Brent hitting one-year highs of $53.73 and WTI 15-month peaks of $51.93 on OPEC plans to cut output before retreating as some members of the producer group resisted the move.
OPEC output likely reached another record high in October at 33.82 million barrels per day from a revised 33.69 million bpd in September, a Reuters survey on Monday showed, ahead of the Nov. 30 meeting where the group hopes to finalize cuts.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by W Simon and Alistair Bell)
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