Oil prices lose about 1.5%

Oil prices expanded their decline with the opening of the American market on Wednesday to lose about 1.5%, abandoning the high levels in several years recorded earlier in the Asian market transactions, on its way to incurring the first loss in the last six days, due to correction and profit-taking, in addition to A new increase in US stocks, according to preliminary data of the American Petroleum Institute, and traders are awaiting official data later today, within the weekly report of the US Energy Agency.

 

US crude fell more than 1.5% to the level of $ 77.79, from the opening level at $ 79.07, and recorded the highest level at $ 79.76, the highest since November 2014, and Brent crude fell by 1.3% to the level of $ 81.52 a barrel, from the opening level at $82.56, and the highest level was at $83.45, the highest since October 2018.

 

US crude, when prices settled on Tuesday, rose by 1.9%, and Brent crude rose by 1.7%, in the fifth consecutive daily gain, after the OPEC Plus alliance decided to keep the production policy unchanged.

 

In preliminary data, the American Petroleum Institute announced yesterday that commercial stocks in the country rose by about 0.95 million barrels during the week ending on October 1, in the second consecutive weekly increase, exceeding experts' expectations of a rise of about 0.2 million barrels.

 

The new increase in US crude stocks, led to growing concerns once again about the levels of domestic demand in the largest consumer of fuel in the world.

 

Later today, traders are awaiting official data on commercial stocks and production levels, within the weekly report of the US Energy Agency, and expectations indicate that stocks will rise by about 0.8 million barrels.

 

As for US production, it increased by about 500,000 barrels per day last week, in the third consecutive weekly increase, bringing the total production to 11.1 million barrels, thanks to the return of supplies in the Gulf of Mexico to pre-Hurricane Ida levels.