Oil prices decline ahead of US stockpiles data release

Oil prices declined on Wednesday after data showed an increase in US crude stockpiles and as coronavirus cases across the world continue to rise, adding to the pressure on fuel demand growth.

Russia’s Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said his country will not take a decision on the future of the OPEC + oil production curbs until next month’s meeting. “We will take a deeper look at the situation within a month, and then we will come up with a specific position on the agreement,” he added.

In terms of trading, Brent crude was down 0.9% at $42.78 a barrel, at 8.50 am Makkah time.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.8% to $41.36 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute data showed that US crude inventories rose by 584,000 barrels in the week ending Oct. 16 to about 490.6 million barrels.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is scheduled to release official US inventory data later today.