Oil prices steady as investors weigh geopolitics, lower US stockpiles
USO•Oil prices settled little changed on Wednesday, with Brent up 3 cents at $108.82 a barrel and WTI down 67 cents at $97.15. US crude stocks fell 3.06 million barrels, more than the 820,000-barrel draw analysts expected.
1. Oil settles mixed
Brent crude futures settled 3 cents, or 0.03%, higher at $108.82 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude closed down 67 cents, or 0.7%, at $97.15. Both benchmarks had risen more than $2 earlier in the session.
2. Geopolitics in focus
Investors weighed the prospect of US-mediated Russia-Ukraine peace talks resuming as soon as next month against continued vessel attacks and the lack of US-Iran dialogue. At least 18 vessel attacks were recorded over the past two weeks, Kpler data showed.
3. US inventory data
US crude stocks fell 3.06 million barrels to 412.5 million last week, compared with analysts’ expectations for an 820,000-barrel draw. Distillate stockpiles rose 1.68 million barrels to 104.3 million, while analysts had expected a 1.16 million-barrel decline.
