Petroleum prices slipped on Wednesday after industry data showed that U.S. crude stockpiles rose more than expected and on concerns that a rebound in COVID-19 cases in top importer China would hurt fuel demand.
Brent crude futures fell 74 cents, or 0.7%, to $94.62 U.S. a barrel early Wednesday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 76 cents, or 0.8%, to $88.15 a barrel. The benchmarks fell around 3% on Tuesday.
U.S. crude oil inventories rose by about 5.6 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 4, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures, while seven analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories would rise by about 1.4 million barrels.
Last week, the market perked on hopes that China might be moving toward relaxing COVID-19 restrictions but over the weekend health officials said they would stick to their “dynamic-clearing” approach to new infections.
Also, API data showed gasoline inventories rose by about 2.6 million barrels, against analysts’ forecasts for a 1.1 million drawdown.
The market will be looking out for official U.S. inventory data from the Energy Information Administration, mid-morning Wednesday for a further view on demand in the world’s biggest economy.
