Brent crude futures for May dropped 16 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $86.09 a barrel while the June contract was down 22 cents to $85.41
Oil prices dropped for the second successive session on Wednesday as the dollar firmed and government data showed a surprise rise in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks.
Brent crude futures for May dropped 16 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $86.09 a barrel while the June contract was down 22 cents to $85.41. The May contract expires on Thursday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for May delivery declined 27 cents, or 0.3%, to $81.35 a barrel. Both Brent and WTI futures have been under selling pressure since reaching more than four-month highs last week.
A stronger U.S. dollar weighed on oil, with the U.S. dollar index gaining for a second successive session.
A surprise rise in U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles also added to the pressure on oil prices, analysts said. U.S. crude oil stocks increased 3.2 million barrels while gasoline stocks added 1.3 million barrels in the week ended March 22, per data from the EIA.
Gasoline demand dropped for a second consecutive week to 8.7 million bpd, down from 8.8 million bpd in the previous week, according to EIA data.
Considering the fact that we are only making crude oil to make gasoline basically, that is a bearish development, according to Robert Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, together known as OPEC+, are unlikely to change oil output policy until a full ministerial gathering in June, three OPEC+ sources told Reuters ahead of next week’s meeting to review the market and members’ implementation of output cuts.
OPEC+ this month agreed to extend output cuts of about 2.2 million bpd to the end of June, although Russia and Iraq have had to go to extra lengths to tackle over-production.
