Wednesday saw a drop in oil prices amid a report by the American Petroleum Institute (API) which indicated an increase in crude and fuel inventories in the US.
Earlier in the day, the benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc nosedived 57 cents, or 1.4%, to cost $40.61 a barrel after gaining almost 1% on Tuesday.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures, in turn, plummeted by 68 cents, or 1.8%, to $38.26 per barrel, following an about 2% rise in the previous session.
Reuters cited Stephen Innes, chief global markets strategist at AxiCorp as saying that “the slide in Brent most likely fits into the profit-taking category after an extended run for oil with no new fundamental data that would justify a shift in sentiment”.
The drop comes after API reported on Tuesday that US crude supplies increased by 8.4 million barrels for the week to 5 June. According to the report, gasoline stockpiles dropped by 2.2 million barrels and distillate inventories climbed by 6.1 million barrels.
Inventory-related data from the US Energy Information Administration is expected later on Wednesday.
Last week, the OPEC group of nations tentatively agreed to extend oil production cuts for another month, in what was preceded by a climb in black gold prices.
Source: Sputnik