Adedapo Adesanya
Brent Crude Oil continued to trade above $60 per barrel on Wednesday as it was sold at $60.30, appreciating by 27 Cents or 0.45 percent during the trading session.
However, the U.S. oil futures settled lower Wednesday after the government reported a weekly decrease in domestic crude supplies, the first in three weeks, but smaller than the market expected.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude fell by 28 Cents or 0.5 percent to trade at $55.85 per barrel.
Concerns over energy demand also continued to pressure prices.
Looking at the inventory data from a trend standpoint, “it appears the stretch of steep draws in crude supply, which were offering fundamental price support to the oil market earlier in the summer, have abruptly ended according to the last three EIA reports, as stockpiles have actually risen modestly since late July,” said Tyler Richey, co-editor at Sevens Report Research.
“Demand concerns linked to a potential global economic slowdown remain the No. 1 headwind for oil right now,” he added.
The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that U.S. crude supplies fell by 2.7 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 16. That followed increases in each of the previous two weeks.
Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts, on average, expected a decline of 3.1 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported a 3.5 million-barrel decrease.
The EIA data also showed that inventories of gasoline edged up by 300,000 barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 2.6 million barrels last week.
Dipo Olowookere