NEW YORK: Industry data showed U.S. crude and fuel inventories piling up, showing signs of weak demand and raising cautious supply expectations ahead of next month’s OPEC+ policy meeting. reported that oil prices fell in Asian trade. Reuters.
Brent crude oil futures fell 57 cents, or 0.69%, to $82.59 a barrel by 9:45 a.m. Saudi time. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 53 cents, or 0.68%, to $77.85 a barrel.
Both indexes fell slightly earlier on Tuesday, with signs of easing supply tensions and weak global oil demand, according to a forecast report released by the Energy Information Administration on Tuesday.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 509,000 barrels in the week ending May 3, market sources said, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute. Inventories of gasoline and distillate fuels also increased.
“API numbers released last night were a little bearish due to rising inventories for both crude oil and products… Concerns over weaker-than-normal US gasoline demand and this rising inventories weighed on an early crack in RBOB gasoline. ING analysts said. Client notes.
Official U.S. government data on the stockpile is expected to be released at 5:30 p.m. Saudi time. Analysts polled by Reuters expect U.S. crude oil inventories to fall by about 1.1 million barrels last week.
Prices were also weighed down by cautious expectations from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies about supply cuts ahead of a June 1 policy meeting.
“Oil prices are under further pressure as noise around OPEC+ production policy increases,” analysts at ING said. “Member states are expected to extend further voluntary supply cuts beyond the second quarter of this year.”
Meanwhile, hopes for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have also put pressure on oil prices in recent trade, with some analysts saying the risk premium for oil has also fallen at the same time.
“The decline in oil prices since the spate of Iranian and Israeli attacks suggests that some of the price risk premium has been unwound,” Bill Weatherburn, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a client note. Stated.
“Prices continue to be supported by OPEC+ production cuts, but we think member countries will gradually lift production cuts starting in July, pushing oil prices lower,” he added.
The United States believes that negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza should bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns is scheduled to travel to Israel on Wednesday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior government officials, sources told Reuters.
Some analysts expect short-term demand to remain well supported and overall price declines to be limited.
Neil Crosby, an analyst at Sparta Commodities, said: “A lot of the talk in recent weeks about stimulus cuts has been overblown in our view. Margins remain reasonably healthy, meaning that if anything, Asian demand is… “This means that if delivery times reach their peak and then decline, they may actually recover.”
