© Archyde.com. A tugboat pushes an oil barge through New York Harbor in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York on May 24, 2022. Photo: Brendan McDermid/Archyde.com
(Archyde.com) – Oil prices were stable in early Asian trading on Wednesday, as industry data showed a drawdown in US inventories, after the market fell in the previous session on fears that further sharp increases in US interest rates could hurt demand.
April crude futures were up 8 cents at 83.37 a barrel by 0120 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost four cents, to $77.54 a barrel.
In support of the market on Wednesday, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that US crude inventories fell by about 3.8 million barrels in the week ending March 3, according to market sources.
The decline contradicted the expectations of nine analysts polled by Archyde.com about a 400,000-barrel increase in crude stocks.
Gasoline stocks increased by about 1.8 million barrels, while distillate stocks increased by about 1.9 million barrels, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified.
Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate fell more than 3 percent on Tuesday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank would likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to the recent strong data.
“This has raised concerns about weak demand in the United States,” ANZ Research analysts said in a note to clients.
Powell’s comments pushed the dollar, which usually goes against oil, to a three-month high against a basket of currencies.
(Prepared by Ali Khafaji for the Arabic Bulletin)