Crude prices declined Wednesday on rising U.S. inventories.

Earlier Wednesday, oil prices rose following the armed seizure of four American workers in Nigeria.

The prices dropped as the Department of Energy reported that crude oil stocks increased by 5.6 million barrels, or 1.7 percent, to 341.2 million barrels for the week ending May 4.

Gasoline stocks rose an average of 400,000 barrels last week to 193.5 million barrels, slightly ahead of analyst expectations.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 71 cents to 61.55 U.S. dollars a barrel in afternoon electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

June Brent crude dropped 60 cents to 64.94 dollars a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.