Brent ended down 0.40% at $106.92 and WTI ended down 1.88% at $102.26.
Oil prices fell on Wednesday in a volatile market that digested a mixed report on US inventories, marked in particular by an unexpected increase in gasoline reserves.
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for September delivery fell 0.40%, to close at 106.92 dollars.
A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in August, which was the last trading day, lost 1.88% to 102.26 dollars.
The market saw an inflection following the publication of the weekly report on US inventories, which showed a surprise drop of 400,000 barrels in commercial crude reserves, while analysts expected a rise of 2 million barrels.
The unexpected drop can be explained, in part, by the increase in exports.
But in a second time, the operators retained more the jump of 3.5 million barrels of gasoline stocks, more than triple the forecasts (+1 million).
The report “was negative (for prices) because it produced new evidence of a drop in gasoline demand at the height of the summer season,” often marked by higher consumption than the rest of the year. year, commented Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.
Although up from the previous week, gasoline demand is thus below the four-week average and well below its level of a year ago (-8%).
The increase in gasoline reserves was all the more marked as imports and production increased significantly during the week ended July 15, according to the US Energy Information Agency (IEA).
The session was punctuated by high volatility, partly attributable to the fact that it was the last trading day on the August contract for WTI.
Another explanation for these oscillations is the fact that trading volumes have fallen sharply in recent days.
Many traders are on vacation and some have, in addition, disengaged until further notice from a market that has been going back and forth for almost a month.
Total WTI futures thus hit their lowest level in more than 6 years on Wednesday.
The market continued to follow the saga of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, the main route for transporting Russian gas to Europe, which should theoretically be put back into service on Thursday, following ten days of maintenance.
On Wednesday, the president of the German Gas and Electricity Network Agency, Klaus Müller, indicated that the quantities delivered on Thursday might be limited to around 30% of the pipeline’s capacity.
The benchmark European gas price, the Dutch TTF, rose slightly (+1.3%), but remains far from its recent highs of last week.
