Oil was steady near the lowest level since mid-March as traders tracked tensions in the Middle East and a mildly bearish US stockpiles report.
Brent traded near USD$83 a barrel, closing just above the 100-day moving average in the previous two sessions. Futures have traded in a range of just over USD1 so far this week. West Texas Intermediate was above USD78 a barrel. With Israel’s military edging into the Gazan city of Rafah, a truce deal between the Jewish state and Hamas remains elusive.
Crude stockpiles at the storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by more than 1 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute estimated, according to people familiar with the figures. The breakdown also showed higher nationwide holdings of gasoline and distillates. Official data come later on Wednesday.
Oil has been on a downtrend since early April, posting losses in three of the past four weeks, with market indicators from timespreads to processing margins pointing to a weaker outlook. Brent and WTI’s prompt spreads have narrowed to multi-month lows, suggesting that conditions are becoming less tight. In addition, profits of making fuels like diesel and gasoline from crude have also declined. – Bloomberg
