WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil futures settled lower on Thursday, extending losses to a fourth straight session, amid concerns about the outlook for demand, and on data showing an unexpected jump in crude inventories in the U.S. last week.
Concerns about the outlook for interest rates hurt as well. The minutes of the April 30-May 1 meeting, released Wednesday afternoon, said participants highlighted disappointing readings on inflation over the first quarter and indicators pointing to strong economic momentum.
The participants subsequently assessed that it would take longer than previously anticipated for them to gain 'greater confidence' inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for July ended down by $0.70 or about 0.9% at $76.87 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.60 or 0.73% at $81.30 a barrel a little while ago.
According to the data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Wednesday, crude inventories in the U.S. increased by 1.8 million barrels last week, after falling by 2.5 million barrels in the previous week. Crude oil inventories were expected to drop by 3.1 million barrels in the week.
Despite the monthly increase, U.S. crude oil inventories remain about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year at 458.8 million barrels.
Traders await the OPEC+ meeting scheduled for June 1. It is widely expected that the group will extend the voluntary production cuts beyond June.
Russia said it exceeded its OPEC+ production quota in April due to 'technical reasons' and will soon present to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretariat its plan to compensate for the error.
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