Oil prices fell more than a dollar a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by efforts by central banks around the world to limit inflation and by expectations that crude inventories will accumulate in the United States due to weakening demand. made out of fuel.
Prices for September Brent LCoc1 crude were down $1.06, or 0.9%, at $106.29 a barrel by 0946 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 crude for August was down $1. $09, or 1%, at $103.13 a barrel. The WTI contract expires on Wednesday.
The most active September WTI contract CLc2 was down $1.10 at $99.64 a barrel.
In the previous session, oil prices were caught in a tug-of-war between fears of lower supply caused by Western sanctions on Russia and expectations of economic weakness and reduced demand, as central banks signaled they interest rates will rise to combat inflation.
On Friday, open interest in New York Mercantile Exchange CL-TOT futures fell to its lowest level since September 2015, as concerns that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates in the United States led to investors reduce their exposure to risky assets.
Additionally, US crude stocks rose by some 1.9 million barrels in the week ending July 15, according to market sources citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday. This figure is close to the forecast of an increase of 1.4 million barrels made by a survey of Reuters.
Official weekly crude oil and fuel oil inventories data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) is due on Wednesday at 1530 GMT and traders are keeping an eye on implied demand.
Analysts, however, expect oil prices to continue to see support from tight supply, even as US shale oil production expands at a modest pace.
“With little room for OPEC+ to increase production, the oil market will struggle to balance itself in the coming months, thereby propping up prices,” said Stephen Brennock of oil brokerage PVM.
Tight supply has kept Brent above $105 a barrel and Brent spreads month-on-month in a wide backwardation of around $4.40 a barrel LCOc1-LCOc2. The prices of the first month are higher than those of future months in a “backwardation” structure.
[Con información de Reuters]
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