Crude prices fell Wednesday after a report on U.S. crude supplies indicated a sharp jump in inventory, ahead of official data from the Energy Information Administration later.
West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery CLN19, -1.82% fell 89 cents, or 1.7%, to $52.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after settling flat on Tuesday. August Brent crude BRNQ19, -1.67% dropped 93 cents, or 1.5% to $61.35 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, also on the heels of a steady close.
The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. crude supplies climbed by roughly 4.9 million barrels for the week ended June 7, according to sources. It also reportedly revealed a stockpile rise of 829,000 barrels in gasoline, while distillate supplies fell by 3.5 million barrels.
Weekly U.S. petroleum supply figures are due early Wednesday from the EIA. Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expect to see a slight rise of 80,000 barrels in crude supplies for the week ended June 7. Gasoline stocks are seen down by 380,000 barrels, while distillates are likely to have climbed by 704,000 barrels, the survey said.
“This data print will likely cause a sleepless night for oil bulls as if the EIA data confirms, we could see a more significant cut and run on WTI oil positioning,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner, Vanguard Markets Pte, in a note to clients.
“Indeed just the thought of overproduction in this deteriorating global economic environment suggests unless OPEC and allies can bridge the agreement gap markets will head south in a hurry,” he said.
Monthly oil reports from OPEC and the International Energy Agency will be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The IEA’s report will include forecasts for 2020.
In other energy trading, July gasoline RBN19, -1.29% fell 1.1% to $1.736 a gallon, while July heating oil HON19, -1.11% dropped 1% to $1.804 a gallon.
Natural gas for July delivery NGN19, -0.33% slipped 0.3% to $2.393 per million British thermal units.
— Myra P. Saefong contributed to this article
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