Source: Zhitong Finance
Crude oil continued to fall slightly after an industry report indicated a sharp increase in US crude oil inventories.
After an industry report indicated a sharp increase in US crude oil inventories, crude oil continued to decline slightly, and the broader market showed a weak tone until the end of the quarter.
Brent crude fell below $86 a barrel after falling 0.6% on Tuesday, while WTI crude hovered around $81. According to people familiar with the matter, the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is funded by the industry, said that US national inventories increased by 9.3 million barrels last week. API also reported an increase of 2.4 million barrels of crude oil in the key hub area of Cushing, Oklahoma, despite a decrease in gasoline inventories.
If government data released late Wednesday confirms this, Cushing's crude oil inventory will record the biggest weekly increase since January 2023. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories will fall for the eighth week in a row, the longest decline in nearly a year.
The weakening of broader financial markets dragged down crude oil and other commodities. As investors rebalanced their portfolios, the US benchmark stock market erased gains in the last half hour of trading, while Asian stock markets showed lackluster performance after opening.
Furthermore, crude oil rose after breaking through the narrow range of the first few months of this year. Strong non-OPEC supply growth is still an obstacle, but geopolitical uncertainty brought about by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and OPEC+ production cuts still boosted oil prices.