Oil Prices Fall After Crude Inventories Fall More Than Expected

Investing.com – West Texas Intermediate oil extended losses in North American trade on Wednesday, as data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. fell more than expected.

for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.16% to trade at $73.25 a barrel by 10:50 AM ET (2:50GMT) compared to $73.22 ahead of the report.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that fell by 12.633 million barrels in the week ended July 6. Market analysts’ had expected a crude-stock decline of 4.489 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a decline of 6.8 million barrels.

, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, decreased by 2.062 million barrels last week, the EIA said.

The report also showed that decreased by 694,000 barrels, compared to expectations for a decrease of 750,000 barrels, while fell by rose by 4.125 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a rise of 1.2 million.

In a separate report, oil production of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia rose by 173,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June to 32.3million bpd, lead by increase in supply from Saudi Arabia. OPEC agreed in June to raise output at a nominal increase of 1 million barrels a day (bpd) amid pressure from the U.S. to decrease prices.

Oil prices were also held back by trade tariff concerns between the U.S. and China as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs of 10% on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods. China has said it will retaliate but doesn’t import enough from the U.S., so is looking at other ways to hit back.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, slumped 2.21% to $77.12 while fell 1.48% to $2.1334 a gallon, while lost 1.66% to $2.1850 a gallon.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.