2023-12-06 17:24:39
Oil prices are falling
Oil prices fell by more than 2.5 percent, on Wednesday, following a larger-than-expected rise in US gasoline inventories raised concerns in the markets regarding the volume of demand and its impact overshadowed the impact of the decline in crude inventories.
By 1558 GMT, Brent crude futures fell $1.96, or 2.53 percent, to $75.27 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $2.19, or 3.03 percent, to $70.14 per barrel.
The US Energy Information Administration reported that gasoline inventories in the United States rose by 5.4 million barrels last week, a number five times greater than the increase of 1 million barrels that analysts had expected.
Crude inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels, far exceeding analysts’ expectations of a decline of 1.4 million barrels.
Both benchmarks closed yesterday, Tuesday, at the lowest level since July 6 in the previous session, and US crude fell for four consecutive days.
The OPEC+ group, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia, agreed late last week to voluntary production cuts of regarding 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024. Saudi and Russian officials said this week that the cuts may be extended or increased following March. .
Concerns regarding the health of the Chinese economy also affected prices, a day following Moody’s credit rating agency lowered its outlook on China’s rating from stable to negative.
A decline in exports in the United States caused a widening trade deficit in October, which may weigh on economic growth in the fourth quarter.
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