WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil moved lower on Wednesday even as drone strikes on Russian ports and refineries disrupting Russian oil supply have increased supply side concerns.
WTI Crude Oil for October delivery was last seen trading down by $0.53 (or 0.82%) at $63.99 per barrel.
On the inventory front, data from American Petroleum Institute revealed that the US crude oil inventories fell by 3.42 million barrels for the week ending September 12.
US Energy Information Administration data today revealed that for the week ending September 12, crude oil stocks in the US decreased by 9.285 million barrels and gasoline stocks slipped by 2.347 million barrels but distillate stocks increased by 4.0 million barrels.
Israel attacked Doha, Qatar, last week to flush out Hamas leaders sheltered there. The aerial strikes brought together Arab and Muslim leaders who have condemned the operation and expressed solidarity with Qatar.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the deadly strikes and announced that the nation would not stop at eliminating Hamas wherever they are and also criticized Iran for backing militant groups.
Yesterday, Reuters reported that Russian oil pipeline operating major Transneft had warned that as a result of series of drone attacks on Russian ports and refineries by Ukraine, producers have to scale back production. This news helped push oil prices up. However, Transneft later denied the report.
To end the Russia-Ukraine war, US President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Europe to stop buying Russian oil and cut off the billions of dollars on monetary gains that Russia makes. Trump added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should make a deal to end the war. Trump feels that there is tremendous hatred between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents and that he will get the war stopped.
According to a Reuters report, OPEC delegates are scheduled to meet in Vienna, Austria, this Thursday and Friday to arrive at a framework for assessing maximum production capacities for the 22-member oil producing group. The group is working to develop a mechanism to assess the maximum sustainable production capacity for each member.
On the monetary front, the two-day US Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee meeting concluded today, with the Fed cutting the federal funds rate by 25 basis points bringing it to a range of 4.00%-4.25% range, in line with expectations.
Recent labor department numbers and inflation data were more supportive of a rate cut by the data-driven Fed.
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